17,000 Hectares W Sumatra Palm Oil Need to be Rejuvenated in 2018

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17,000 Hectares W Sumatra Palm Oil Need to be Rejuvenated in 2018

Palm oil. (Antara)

Padang, (Antaranews Sumbar) - An area of 17,000 hectares of palm oil plantation in West Sumatra, aged over 25, need to be rejuvenated in 2018, Chairman of Indonesian Palm Oil Association (APKASINDO), Irman stated.

"Palm oil that needs to be rejuvenated is a community garden or community self-help," he said in Padang, Thursday.

According to him, the area of palm oil plantation in West Sumatra is recorded as 250,000 hectares, but it is estimated that the area will increase to 450,000 hectares.

Palm oil rejuvenation is something that must be prioritized for long-term production which is maintained and continues to increase.

"If there is no rejuvenation, there will be an impact on quantity and quality of production," he remarked.

The budget that will be used for rejuvenation will be from the Fund Management Board of Palm Oil Plantation (BPDPKS) which will be disbursed to palm oil farmers in West Sumatra.

"The palm oil refinancing assistance is around Rp25 million per hectare," he noted.

Later, palm oil farmers can submit proposals to obtain the data through farmer groups and cooperatives because to get the budget the minimum amount of 25 hectares.

"How can the technical coordinate with the existing palm farming groups in their respective regions," he said.

Then Irman added that currently, the obstacle in the field of palm oil exports is a black campaign so that Indonesia's palm oil exports fell.

One of the growing issues in Europe is palm oil as one of the main causes of deforestation or forest loss in tropical forest countries such as Indonesia.

The issue also affects the price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) of West Sumatra palm oil for the period of April 16 to 30 2018 which is Rp1,909 per kilogram, much lower than the same month in 2017 of Rp2,300 per kilogram.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Darmin Nasution said the rejuvenation of palm oil crops is highly prioritized for production to increase.

"Moreover, now the condition of palm oil plantations is a lot of old so it needs to be rejuvenated," he added. (cha)