SURABAYA – The Oil Palm Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) organized on Wednesday an event called Indonesian Palm Oil Research Week (PERISAI) 2023 in Surabaya, East Java. The event, which will last for two days from 25 to 26 October 2023, is aimed to exhibit various results of researches and to encourage researches on palm oil.
BPDPKS President Director Eddy Abdurrachman said on Wednesday that the palm oil industry, which plays a very important role in Indonesian economy badly needs researches for strengthening the palm oil sustainability and for countering all negative campaigns against the palm oil.
He said that based on the presidential regulation (Perpres) No. 61/2015, the funds collected by BPDPKS from the palm oil industry players are used for financing the strategic programs, such as human resource development, research and development, replanting, development of oil palm facilities and infrastructure, promotion and advocation.
BPDPKS has taken proactive steps by implementing the Palm Oil Research and Development Program. This initiative aims to strengthen and promote the palm oil industry in Indonesia from upstream and downstream sectors.
A key aspect of this effort is to stimulate the interest of Indonesian students in conducting palm oil research, laying the groundwork for the sustainable development of this vital industry on a national scale.
Eddy Abdurrachman outlined the research and development program’s various components, including the palm oil research grant program. “This program is designed to escalate research and development of sustainable palm oil. The main focus is to increase productivity and efficiency, strengthen sustainability, create new markets and products, and improve smallholders’ welfare,” he said when delivering speech in the Pekan Riset Sawit Indonesia 2023 (PERISAI 2023) with the theme “Reinforcing Palm Oil Industry in Combating Global Challenges through Technological Innovation.”
He also mentioned since it started in 2015, BPDPKS has funded 329 cooperation contracts with 88 research institutions in 19 provinces and involved 1,202 researchers.
In the research result commercialization, BPDPKS is in cooperation with the Association of Indonesian Inventors (AII) to get technology preparedness assessment from the result researches.
30 inventions from the research results are ready to get commercial. Some investors are interested in them with the agreement of technology secret. Eddy said, BPDPKS will discover the research results funded by BPDPKS in the two day seminar.
“The seminar consists of six sessions/classes that enable every participant to get into according to their interest. The initiative will reinforce research infrastructure in Indonesia and open innovation, new market development, and escalate smallholders’ income,” he said.
By having Palm Oil Research and Development Program, BPDPKS is committed to developing palm oil industries sustainably, innovatively, so that they have higher competitiveness at global market. By reinforcing research and development, Indonesia will keep advancing and maintaining its leading position as the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil. (*)
Source: elaeis.co / palmoilmagazine.com
