PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – The Nucleus Estate Smallholder (NES) program, also known as Perusahaan Inti Rakyat Perkebunan (PIR-Bun), was introduced as an initiative by the Indonesian government in 1974/75. The program was implemented starting in 1977/78 in Alue Merah (North Aceh) and Tabenan (South Sumatra), with rubber as the primary crop in the plantations.
In the beginning, PIR program focused to rubber plantations but it was developed to palm oil. In 1980/81, PIR program in palm oil started in two districts, they were Labuhan Batu and Langkat, North Sumatera Province. It developed to many regions in Indonesia, such as, PIR V Lebak (West Java), PIR V Ngabang and PIR Lok I Parindu (West Kalimantan), PIR VII Pasir (East Kalimantan), PIR VII Luwu (South Sulawesi), and special PIR II in Jayapura and Manokwari (Papua). The program was one approach that the Government of Indonesia adopted to develop plantation sectors.
Through NES or PIR-Bun, the government hoped to solve some issues that farmers or smallholders faced, such as, limited capital, access of technology, markets, and plantation management. In the program, main companies should be responsible on the main plantations and delivered technical helps, capital, and marketing to plasma smallholders. The plasma as the partners of the main company should also be responsible on the plasma cultivation and got profits from the harvest trade to the main companies.
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By involving main company and plasma smallholders, NES or PIR-Bun would potentially deliver significant advantages. The plasma got facilities and technical helps to escalate their plantation productivity and income. Besides, they would get bigger scale – economy, better market access, got better price from their harvests.
But NES or PIR-Bun faced challenges, such as, the gap of profit share between both parties, the lack of program sustainability, the conflicts that related to land rights and villagers’ removal.
To solve the challenges, it needed strong commitment from the government, plantation companies, and smallholders to run the program sustainably. It was significant for the smallholders to escalate their skills and knowledge in plantation management. Besides, it needed to confirm that plasma smallholders got their rights and justice protected in profit share between main company and the plasma.
As time goes by, NES or PIR-Bun could be escalated and adjusted with the smallholders’ need and plantation condition in Indonesia. It is hoped there would be sustainable sectors and delivering wider economic advantages for the smallholders and country in a whole by optimizing smallholders’ plantation potential through the collaboration between the main company and the plasma. (T2)
