PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Holding Perkebunan Nusantara PTPN III (Persero), through its subsidiary PT Perkebunan Nusantara IV (PalmCo), has launched an innovative smallholder oil palm replanting (PSR) program incorporating an intercropping system with Paddy Gogo. This initiative aims to enhance land productivity while supporting national food security.
PTPN III President Director Mohammad Abdul Ghani highlighted that 42% (6.94 million hectares) of Indonesia’s 16.38 million hectares of oil palm plantations belong to smallholders. “Around 2.8 million hectares of these smallholder plantations are over 25 years old and urgently require replanting,” he stated in a written release quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com on Thursday (28/11/2024).
Replanting often renders land unproductive for over two years until new oil palms start producing. To address this, PTPN collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Directorate General of Plantations, and other stakeholders to introduce Paddy Gogo intercropping within PSR areas.
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“The intercropping system enables Paddy Gogo to grow between oil palms during the initial non-productive phase (TBM). This supports food self-sufficiency initiatives launched by the President,” Abdul Ghani explained.
The pilot phase of the program will be implemented on 60 hectares of PSR land in Siak District, Riau, managed by plasma farmers from the Karya Maju Producer Cooperative. Of this area, 20 hectares will be dedicated to Paddy Gogo cultivation.
“Paddy Gogo is ideal for replanting stages as it requires no special irrigation, making it compatible with oil palm plantations,” noted PalmCo President Director Jatmiko Santosa.
PTPN IV aims to expand this intercropping model across thousands of hectares of PSR land annually until 2029. According to Jatmiko, the program not only boosts land productivity but also mitigates the need for clearing new areas.
The implementation of this program is supported by research from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) and PT Research Perkebunan Nusantara. IPB Rector, Prof. Arif Satria, revealed that the potential utilization of PSR land for Paddy Gogo can produce an additional 1.1 million tons of rice per year from 470 thousand hectares of land.
“Collaboration between PTPN, IPB, and various other parties allows intercropping to be a concrete solution to support food security while increasing the efficiency of oil palm land,” Arif said.
Jatmiko added that the success of this program requires support from various parties, including the Ministry of Agriculture, BPDPKS, local governments, fertilizer producers, financing institutions, and farmer organizations.
“This program is a major innovation for the plantation and agriculture sector. We hope that the impact will not only be on food self-sufficiency, but also improve the welfare of farmers,” he concluded. (P2)
