PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – In the era of Industry 5.0, advancements in technology, automation, and digitalization are driving palm oil plantations to adopt and integrate these innovations. To achieve sustainable efficiency, plantations must align their practices with emerging technologies.
The Industry 4.0 revolution introduced significant advancements across various sectors, including technology information, automation, big data analytics, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). As industries, including palm oil plantations, adapted to these changes, the focus has shifted to Industry 5.0.
Industry 5.0, still evolving and subject to debate, builds on the technological progress of Industry 4.0 by emphasizing the integration of advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, and robotics with human skills and creativity. The goal is to develop production systems that are more efficient, flexible, sustainable, and socially responsible.
Also Read: AI Technology Transforms Palm Oil Industry: Boosting Efficiency and Precision in Harvesting
The concept would be about to get or create adaptive production system with the market demands, more focus on customers’ experiences, and optimize the utilization from the limited natural resources. 5.0 industry should also deliver big advantages for industries, customers, workers, and the people, such as, to escalate productivity, quality, and safety, create new employment, and minimize the negative impacts for the environment.
The question remains, how would palm oil plantation implement such technologies? Not every palm company can directly adopt the relatively new and expensive technology. But some companies started and get concept to implement the technology in phase as the chance to escalate efficiency and create the better results.
Sophisticated technology implementation, such as, AI and IoT in palm oil plantation would help in some aspects, for instance, to get big data analysis. AI can be applied to predict weather system, optimize fertilization schedule, and monitor the health of plants in real time. Robot and automatization can be used to escalate harvest efficiency and minimize the dependence on work manually.
Besides, drone (technology) can be used to get area map and monitor the plantation condition. Sensor of IoT can be put in the field to get data about soil moisture, air quality, and other condition. The data can be analyzed to make the better decisions fast and would escalate productivity and minimize the loss of resources.
Even though there would be many potential advantages by implementing 5.0 industry, the challenges are still ahead, for instance, the costs to implement it, which are very expensive and the needs of skillful workers to operate, maintenance the systems. Besides, there would needs to confirm that such technologies would be environmental and would not be negative for the people around.
From many palm oil plantation companies in Indonesia, PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) IV PalmCo, the government’s company has adopted the digital technology in its palm oil plantations.
Head of Information Technology Division, PTPN IV PalmCo, Muhammad Aji Priyatna said that through Palm Oil Digitalization Project or Digitalization for PalmCo 4.0, the company has implemented technology innovation.
The innovations are digital farming Palm and rubber, an application to record palm oil and rubber production result (harvest) holistically. Besides, mill indicator monitoring system is the monitoring system in IoT – base which is used to monitor the temperature, pressure, water pH, and laboratory sample in the mill. (P2)
