Jakarta – Agriculture Minister during the period of 2000-2004, Bungaran Saragih predicted that the palm oil prospect is getting brighter towards the year 2045, as its use as raw material to feed downstream industries—food, non-food and biofuel industries, is continually rising.
He said that the increase of gross domestic product (GDP) in many countries and global population, which is predicted to reach 9.5 billion people in 2045, will push up the consumption of vegetable oils, including the palm oil.
“The global consumption of the four main vegetable oils is projected to almost double from the current level at 324 million tons, which is dominated by the palm oil at around 141 million tons or 44 percent of the total consumption of the vegetable oils,” he told participants of a webinar on “Efforts To Expedite the Increase of Sustainable Palm Oil Production And Productivity Towards Golden Indonesia” in Jakarta, recently.
According to him, Indonesia as the world’s largest producer of palm oil should take the opportunity of benefiting from the rising demand at the global market, which is expected to see rising trend of demand towards 2045.
“It’s important, therefore, to maintain the existence and sustainability of palm oil production in Indonesia,” said Bungaran, who is also the chairman of the advisory council of the Palm Oil Agribusiness Strategic Policy Institute (PASPI), a research and development institution specialized on palm oil industry.
Bungaran said that one way to maintain the sustainability of Indonesian palm oil is through the increase of production and productivity by extensification and intensification. But he noted that extensification through expansion of land areas could not be implemented due to limited land areas and the stipulation of the presidential instruction (Inpres) No.8/2018 on oil palm licensing moratorium.
Besides, the global consumers’ demand for environmental protection should be also considered in increasing the palm oil production. “Therefore, looking forward efforts to increase production towards 2045 should be pursued through the increase of productivity or intensification,” he said.
Based on data from the agriculture ministry in 2020, the average productivity of Indonesian oil palm plantations in 2018 reached only 3.6 tons per hectare per year. If compared to the average productivity of seed varieties developed by the Palm Oil Research Center (PPKS) at 7.8 tons per hectare per year during the period of 1990-2010, then the productivity of Indonesian oil palm plantations is still far from its potential.
But he pointed out that a strategy that could be implemented quickly to raise the productivity is through partial productivity efforts, such as increasing use of fertilizers, implementing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and improving the technology of processing at the palm oil mills.
But growers can also pursue the total factors productivity by replanting with new and superior seed varieties in the already old plantations.
Meanwhile, Mula Putra, the palm oil coordinator at perennials and refreshments directorate of the agriculture ministry’s plantation directorate general, said that the government has been pursuing efforts of increasing productivity through replanting program for 540,000 hectares of smallholders’ oil palm plantations during the period of 2020-2022 in 21 provinces, 108 regencies/mayoralties as the palm oil producing regions.
The government also provides financial assistances, encourages the use of superior palm seeds for the replanting program, improves facilities and infrastructure to support the palm oil industry, promotes intensification and conducts training and mentoring programs to increase the quality of human resources in the palm oil industry.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) Deputy Secretary General Agam Fatchurrochman said during the same occasion that the government should ensure the investment continuity and legal certainty in the palm oil industry, expedite solution for oil palm plantations identified in forest areas, accelerate the replanting program and the certification of Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) for the oil palm plantations. (*)
Source: antaranews.com | Featured image via cms.qz.com