The Most Efficient Palm Industry Using Land

INDUSTRY.co.id - Nusa Dua - Chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Entrepreneurs Association (Gapki) Joko Supriyono said oil palm plantations are very efficient in land use compared to other vegetable oil producers.

At the opening of the International Palm Conference (IPOC) 2017 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Thursday (2/11/2017) he revealed based on a study from LMC International, a research institute from the UK, to meet the needs of vegetable oil (vegetable oil) world in 2025, when using a "rapeseed" plant requires an additional 50.5 million ha of land.

If filled with sunflower oil (sunflower) requires additional 70.4 million ha of land, and soybean plants need additional 96 million ha of land.

"If palm oil only needs 12.6 million ha, even if the productivity of palm can be increased to an average of 8 tons of CPO per ha per year, only 6 million ha of land will be added," he said.

Attending the event "13th Indonesia Palm Oil Conference and 2018 Price Outlook" this time Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Nasution Darmin representing President Joko Widodo to open the annual event.

The activities of the International Palm Conference (IPOC), which this year enters its 13th year, take the theme: "Growth through Productivity: Partnership with Smallholders" (Increased productivity, partnership with farmers).

The conferences and expo were participated by participants from 23 countries were also attended by Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Sofyan Jalil, some agriculture ministers of friendly countries, while from agriculture ministry represented by Secretary General and Director General of Plantation.

According to Joko Supriyono, in the future productivity and sustainability issues will determine in the world vegetable oil competition, therefore partnership between companies and farmers becomes very important.

"And we need to get more support from the government," he said.

He said the development of Indonesian palm oil should be aligned with "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs). This is done to dismiss negative allegations made foreign to the Indonesian palm oil industry.

"On the other hand, developed countries will also increasingly protectively protect their markets against palm oil penetration," he told media crews in Bali.

On that occasion, Joko estimates that palm oil production this year will reach 36.5 million tons or higher compared to last year's total production of 34.5 million tons.

This increase in production will certainly have a more positive impact on the national economy. "This proves that as long as it has become the engine of economic growth, therefore, the role of the palm oil industry is very important," he added.

Therefore, Joko expects the government to defend Indonesia as the largest palm oil producer in the world and find new export markets.

"We also need a conducive investment climate and ISPO (Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil) should continue to be strengthened," he said.