PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Marginal areas, often perceived as unproductive, can actually yield good harvests if properly cultivated. Marlon Sitanggang, Head of Agronomy at PT Union Sampoerna Triputra Persada (USTP), made this point during the “Bincang-Bincang Sawit” event organized by the Indonesian Planters Society (IPS) and attended by Palmoilmagazine.com on Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Jakarta.
Sitanggang shared his experiences cultivating palm oil on approximately 3,740 hectares of land with over 80% sand content. Of this area, around 2,330 hectares received special treatment through the application of organic fertilizers derived from empty fruit bunches.
In addition, PT USP enhanced the land by improving drainage systems, creating planting holes for the trees, developing reservoirs, and enriching the soil with organic materials by planting intercrops such as Mucuna and using additional fertilizers, including sodium, phosphorus, potassium, boron (B), and copper (Cu).
These efforts yielded impressive results. “During the dry season in 2023, the company was able to produce fresh fruit bunches of up to 26 tons per hectare,” he stated.
The talk show attracted hundreds of online participants, including planters from various regions, demonstrating their enthusiasm for cultivation innovations in marginal areas. During the Q&A session, a planter who had worked in Nigeria for seven years expressed interest in learning more about climate change.
The success of PT USTP in marginal area cultivation would be the sample that with the right method, the unexpected areas could highly deliver productivity. The innovation would positively deliver not only the impacts, but new chances to cultivate palm oil plantations in the same conditions.
With the integrated approaches, the marginal areas could be optimized and delivering solution for the challenges of climate change that influenced palm oil industries. (P2)
