JAKARTA – Land affected by forest and land fires (Karhutla) is highly unproductive for oil palm cultivation because its soil structure has been damaged. Even more so if the land is peatland.

“It is clearly ill-advised to plant oil palms directly on such land, especially on peat, as the soil structure is inevitably damaged by the fires,” stated oil palm agronomist Marlon Sitanggang when contacted in Jakarta on Monday (26/10/2026).

According to Marlon, fires destroy the soil’s organic matter, kill essential microorganisms, and diminish both soil fertility and water-retention capacity. Land with such a compromised structure is not suitable for immediate oil palm cultivation.

Regarding peatlands specifically, Marlon noted that they are generally ill-suited for oil palms—and even more so if they have been scorched by fire. While oil palms can technically grow on peat—even on peatlands that have experienced fires—doing so entails extremely high maintenance costs.

A costly myth circulating online

Recently, reports have circulated in the mass media—particularly on social media—suggesting that land is being planted with oil palm seedlings immediately after being cleared by fire. This narrative implies that oil palm plantation companies may be behind these forest and land fires.

Marlon questions this negative perception, noting, “The required inputs and technology are extremely costly. Will the resulting yields at harvest time justify such high expenditures? This is a crucial point to consider—and that is just from an agronomic perspective, not to mention the legal implications.”

Legal consequences are severe

From a legal standpoint, the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) and the Forest and Land Fire Task Force (Satgas PKH) have emphasized that land affected by fires—particularly within protected forests, conservation areas, or production forests—must be restored or rehabilitated, rather than converted into oil palm plantations. Illegal oil palm cultivation on land that has previously burned is a violation of the law, which can lead to the impounding of heavy equipment, the revocation of permits, and even criminal prosecution.

“So, planting oil palms on land that has been burned is essentially an act of ‘suicide.’ Not only are the maintenance costs for the crops high, but the legal penalties are also severe,” says Marlon, who is currently a doctoral candidate at Lambung Mangkurat University in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan.

According to Marlon—who is also a member of the Indonesian Association of Plantation Professionals (P3PI)—companies would think twice, or even many times over, before attempting to plant oil palms on previously burned land. Beyond the minimal potential for profit, the legal consequences are also heavy.

Why the soil cannot recover quickly

Furthermore, in the case of burned mineral soil, the decomposing microorganisms within the soil are inevitably destroyed or killed off. Nitrogen (N) evaporates, while carbon (C) accumulates, leading to a high C/N ratio. Consequently, the availability of nutrients for the plants to absorb becomes severely limited.

“The result is inevitably low productivity, as the uptake of nutrients is compromised,” explains this agronomy professional, who possesses nearly 30 years of experience in the oil palm plantation industry. (*)