PALMOILMAGAZINE, TANA PASER – Palm oil has emerged as the star performer in Indonesia’s agricultural sector, making a significant contribution to the country’s revenue. With its high productivity and numerous advantages, palm oil has become the leading non-oil and gas sector contributor to the economy.
On Tuesday, 25th July 2023, the Paser District showed its appreciation for a workshop organized by the Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN) and the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (PFMA). The workshop focused on the application process of turning fresh fruit bunches (FFB) into PRA – crude palm oil (CPO). The primary objective was to empower independent smallholders and enhance their bargaining power within the smallholders’ palm oil plantation centers.
The event was inaugurated by Assistant of Economy and Development Regional Secretariat of Paser, Adi Maulana that represented Regent of Paser. In his speech, Adi Maulana emphasized that palm oil is significant for the people of Indonesia, namely the smallholders. As one major agriculture sector, palm ol plantations provide employment that reached about 86.208 men as smallholders of 218.023 workers that involve in this sector.
Besides as source of income for smallholders, palm oil is taken as the promising living source. The relatively fast development to produce can deliver the goods for a very long time. Palm oil is known as zero waste plant because every part of the plant almost delivers no waste. FFB could be processed to be kinds of housing products, such as, palm cooking oil, soap, and the waste can be processed as compost. While the tree can be cut off to be engineered as furniture.
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Palm oil potential delivers many impacts not only positive for the local level but also for global level. Having massive production, Indonesia has become the king of biodiesel producer with its production up to 7,9 billion liters, defeating many countries, such as, America and German. Not only that, palm oil becomes one mainstay to defeat other countries in source of fossil energy to be renewable green energy. This performs Indonesia as one barn of renewable energy in the world.
The government and other stakeholders keep doing the best to maximize palm oil potential by developing technology and innovation in palm oil process. Through the workshop that BRIN and PFMA conducted, it is hoped, the smallholders would escalate their bargaining offer to get increasing welfare. “Besides, the support to divert fossil energy to be green energy can be taken as the real thing to encourage sustainable environment and climate,” he said, as Palmoilmagazine.com quoted from the official page of District of Paser, Wednesday (26/7/2023).
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Apart from the positive assessments, palm oil also faces challenges to get solution. Its development should notice social and environmental issues, for instance, deforestation, indigenous people’s rights, and climate change. The sustainable efforts and wise policy (ies) would be very significant to maintain the balance between economic development and environment protection.
In a whole, palm oil plays its strategic roles to the economic progress in Indonesia and it is potential to encourage transition heading to green energy (implementation) in the global level. By getting the right supports from the government, stakeholders, and the people themselves, palm oil could be always the valuable source for sustainable development and welfare many smallholders in Indonesia. (T2)
