PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – General of the Army (Ret.) Dr. Moeldoko, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Indonesian Palm Oil Smallholders Association (Apkasindo), officially inaugurated the 2024-2029 Apkasindo coordinators at the Ministry of Agriculture auditorium.
In his speech, he stressed the importance of Apkasindo serving as a vital bridge between smallholders, the government, academia, and technology development in the palm oil sector. “Apkasindo must play its role as a bridging institution, ensuring that technological advancements are embraced by smallholders,” Moeldoko stated, as quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com on Wednesday (9/10/2024).
He also highlighted the need for Apkasindo to act as a critical partner to the government, advocating for smallholders’ interests. “If any policies are not favorable to smallholders, Apkasindo must fight for them,” he added.
Also Read: Chairman of Apkasindo: Smallholders Are Limped to Implement ISPO, Need Evaluation
Moeldoko outlined key strategic issues for Apkasindo to address, particularly the low productivity of smallholder palm oil plantations. He noted that while Malaysian plantations produce 19 tons per hectare, Indonesia’s smallholders achieve only 12 tons per hectare. “Apkasindo must find solutions to boost productivity,” he urged.
Moeldoko emphasized it would be significant to get collaboration among Apkasindo, Ministry of Agriculture, and Commission IV Indonesian Legislators to accomplish palm oil downstream issue. “We have to get solution for the bottleneck that blocks downstream sectors,” he said while saying about the plantation issues in forest region. He hoped Apkasindo would cooperate with the government to get legal for the smallholders where they cultivated in the areas.
FFB Price would be the Focus for the New Chairman of Apkasindo
After the inauguration, the new Chairman of Apkasindo, Dr. Gulat Manurung would be committed to struggle for the same fresh fruit bunch (FFB) price between the independent and plasma smallholders. He said that in the past five years, his leadership delivered advantages for the smallholders but there would be many to go.
One main issue he discussed was the regulation that did not protect the independent smallholders. “There is no single word that mentioned independent smallholders in nowadays regulations. In fact, they cultivated million hectares of palm oil plantations,” he said by hoping that the new government would revise the Regulation of Minister of Agriculture Number 1/ 2018 so the independent smallholders would be acknowledged and get justice.
He told the different FFB price delivered losses for the independent ones significantly. “In the late week, the independent smallholders got loss up to trillion rupiah for the different price,” he said and with his new spirit, Manurung targeted to struggle for the independent smallholders’ rights in Indonesia. (P2)
