PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Holding Perkebunan Nusantara III (Persero), through its subsidiary PTPN IV PalmCo, aims to sell 2.1 million superior palm oil seeds to smallholders by the end of 2024. This initiative is part of PTPN IV’s strategy to boost plantation productivity across the country.
PTPN IV PalmCo Director, Jatmiko Santosa, stated that the company has set up five breeding locations for the superior oil palm seeds to meet this goal. “Since the program’s launch in 2021, we have seen a growing demand for certified palm oil seeds from smallholders,” Jatmiko said in an official statement, as quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com on Friday (10/11/2024).
By the end of the third quarter of 2024, smallholders in Jambi and Riau provinces had purchased approximately 1.6 million superior seeds. Jatmiko expressed optimism that the target of 2.1 million seeds would be reached by December 2024, as the smallholders’ replanting programs continue.
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The distribution of these superior seeds will be expanded to other provinces across Indonesia, from Sumatra to Kalimantan. “We hope that providing superior seeds will increase smallholder productivity and reduce the production gap between smallholders and large companies,” Jatmiko added.
Survey dara from Pusat Penelitian Kelapa Sawit revealed that many smallholders in Indonesia should get trapped for planting fake palm oil seeds. 37 percent smallholders were the victim of fraud, while the 20 percent did not know how or where to purchase legal seeds. Besides, some smallholders purchased the seeds for the cheap price or they were difficult to qualify every condition to get legal seeds.
To help them solve the issues, PTPN IV PalmCo developed the application sawit rakyat online (SRO). Director of Institutional Relationship PTPN IV, Irwan Perangin-Angin said that the application was downloaded by more than 10.000 times and it was formulated to deliver information about legal palm oil seeds in the available breeding locations. (P2)
