PALMOILMAGAZINE, TANJUNG SELOR — The Agriculture Office (Disperta) of Bulungan Regency is accelerating the formal legalization of smallholder plantation businesses by conducting outreach on the Surat Tanda Daftar Budidaya Pekebun (STDB) — or Smallholder Cultivation Registration Certificate — in Long Bang Village, Peso Hilir District.
Head of Disperta Bulungan, Kristiyanto, emphasized that STDB serves as a fundamental legal document for plantation operations. “With an STDB, smallholders have legal assurance over their land, enabling wider access to bank financing, government assistance, and technical support programs,” he said.
He stressed, however, that an STDB can only be issued for land located outside forest zones, outside protected paddy fields, and free from licensing disputes. “Public understanding of plantation land legality is crucial, especially since most Long Bang residents are self-funded oil palm growers,” Kristiyanto explained, as cited by Radartarakan on Thursday (31/7/2025).
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He noted that Long Bang villagers had previously received around 8,000 oil palm seedlings from PPKS Medan in two phases (2021–2022), yet their land legality — in the form of certificates or official statements — has not been issued to date. “So far, farming has been based only on customary recognition and inherited shifting cultivation without formal documents,” he added.
Disperta hopes this outreach will be a starting point for expanding legal access and driving rural economic development. “The government remains committed to assisting smallholder farmers,” Kristiyanto concluded. (P2)
