PALMOILMAGAZINE, MEDAN – Hundreds of smallholders from North Sumatera and Aceh Province participated in a socialization and technical development event aimed at implementing the Smallholders Replanting Program (SRP) within a partnership system.
The event, held in Medan, North Sumatera Province, was organized by the Asosiasi Petani Kelapa Sawit Perusahaan Inti Rakyat (Aspekpir) in collaboration with the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (PFMA), PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) IV PalmCo, and supported by the North Sumatera Provincial Government.
With the theme “Pola Kemitraan Menuju Peningkatan Produktivitas Kelapa Sawit Rakyat Berkelanjutan” (Partnership Model Towards Sustainable Increase in Smallholders’ Palm Oil Productivity), the meeting featured several speakers who discussed partnerships and SRP implementation in Indonesia.
Setiyono, Chairman of Aspekpir Indonesia, stated that the goal of the event was to inform plasma smallholders, coordinators of Koperasi Unit Desa (KUD), and other smallholder organizations in the two provinces about the implementation of SRP, the challenges faced, and the acceleration of SRP processes.
“SRP should run well with the full supports from the government and would positively deliver impacts for the smallholders’ welfare,” he said, as Palmoilmagazine.com quoted from Bisnistoday, Saturday (22/6/2024).
He also mentioned that this would be the way to escalate the smallholders’ welfare through partnership program. SRP would be important part from palm oil industrial long history in Indonesia. It started since the era of President Soeharto and keeps developing until now.
Director of Institutional Relationship, PTPN IV PalmCo, Irwan Paranginangin said that the company would be committed to implement SRP through partnership that would cover 60 thousand hectares by involving 120 thousand plasma smallholders. “The program would be existing in every operational of PTPN Group, such as Sumatera, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi,” he said.
Paranginangin continued, PTPN Group always puts SRP as the long term – plan of the company because it would be a significant program to support sustainable industries and recover the economy nationally.
Director of Fund Raising PFMA, Sunari said that 42% of palm oil plantations in Indonesia belong to the independent smallholders. Sumatera and Kalimantan have the widest plantations. Of the total palm oil plantation canopy, 2,4 million hectares should be in SRP.
“It needs strategies to escalate palm oil performance, including improving its supply chain, providing information, having data consolidation about area, production, and expanding the exports,” he said.
Sunari also emphasized palm oil industries face many challenges from the upstream to downstream sector. The government should do the best to escalate the sustainability of the industry by delivering programs in PFMA. (P2)
