The Palm Oil Farmers Union (SPKS) is hailing the government’s decision to drop an export levy for the commodity but said that the fund gathered from the levy was heavily in favor of benefiting the biodiesel industry, and not the smallholders.
A total of 135 oil palm farmers working with PT Asian Agri under a plasma scheme have become the first to begin to harvest plantations that were replanted in 2016, the company said on Wednesday.
In its bid to develop the national palm oil industry, the government needed to protect its smallholders, including by setting up a number taskforces, each to deal with one of the major challenges faced by these growers, a palm oil labor activist said.
The number of stakeholders of the Indonesian palm oil industry is warning of the high risk of layoffs following almost a year of weak world palm oil prices, others remained adamant that the current situation was not yet that bad.
The Indonesian palm oil sector is stepping up pressure against environmental watchdog Greenpeace which is accused of not only attacking the nation’s sovereignty but also of threatening the livelihood of millions of palm oil farmers and plantation workers through its recent series of anti-palm oil campaign.
Indonesian palm oil farmers are calling on the government to reduce the export levy on palm oil exports and derivative products as the price o the commodity in world markets continued to weaken, causing suffering for the farmers.
Palm oil giant Wilmar International Limited aired its extreme disappointment at Greenpeace’s recent protest onboard a palm oil tanker off the coast of Spain, saying that the environmental organization preferred to seek publicity rather than work constructively with the palm oil industry.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is committed to focus on achieving better market transformation in the palm oil industry and, therefore, attracting as many participating smallholders, whose roles are important to this sector, as possible.
After a long arduous journey by truck and boat in the oppressive heat of the tropics, six hirsute orangutans were finally released from their cages and allowed to taste freedom for the first time in a long while, swinging from branch to branch in a forested island in Central Kalimantan.
Structured and planned communication and community engagement program is one of the keys of the PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Tbk (ANJ) achievements in developing a sustainable sago and palm oil industry in West Papua.