GAPKI - Indonesia Allows The Replanting of 53,012 Hectares of Oil Palm In 2023
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By InfoPublik.id and www.thestar.com.my
Press conference | January 17, 2024
Sumatra and Kalimantan's palm oil crops and industries have a significant impact on Indonesian palm oil output. Meanwhile, palm oil production in Sulawesi and Papua is still "learning" as it has just recently began; it might become a major role within the next ten years. El Niño has produced severe drought in Sumatra and Kalimantan, leading to a shift in production cycles.
Indonesia authorized the replanting of 53,012 hectares (130,995.5 acres) of palm oil trees on smallholder farmers' land in 2023 under a subsidised programme, according to statistics from the country's palm oil financing (BPDPKS) agency released on Wednesday.
The replanting area grew from 30,759 hectares in 2022, although it still fell short of Indonesia's yearly objective. The BPDPKS is responsible of awarding subsidies for palm oil tree replanting.
Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, has set a goal of replanting 180,000 hectares of palm trees on smallholders' property each year in order to increase output without removing additional forest.
Experts say Indonesia urgently needs to replace its palm oil trees since yields have been declining while demand for the vegetable oil, especially biodiesel, has been increasing.
The smallholder palm replanting initiative was initiated in 2016 with the goal of replacing around 2.5 million hectares of aged plants by 2025. Despite this, only 326,308 hectares have been approved by the end of 2023, with only 205,524 hectares being planted.