The Secretary-General of the Indonesian Association of Coconut Processing Industry (HIPKI) Donatus Gede Sabon is warning of the dangers and vulnerability of an economy that is heavily relying on a single commodity, in this case, palm oil.
The Indonesian government is also currently encouraging its own palm oil sustainability scheme, the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) to assure the sustainability of the palm oil industry. However, most smallholders still face many obstacles, administrative and or financial, in obtaining certification.
Eye on the Forest said that it found Indonesia’s top four palm oil producers, better known as the “Big 4” – GAR, Musim Mas, RGE, and Wilmar – had purchased, often repeatedly, from mills that have been flagged as having often dealt in illegal palm oil
The definition of what a forest entails can substantially impact the estimate of deforestation and forest destruction as well as in estimating the real culprit behind deforestation.
“farmers should be able to pocket RP 1,300-Rp 1,500 per kilogram of fresh fruit bunch but what is happening on the field is that prices could reach Rp 600 per kilogram,” APKASINDO Deputy Secretary-General Rino Afrino told The Palm Scribe.
Indonesian Palm Oil Farmer Union (SPKS) Chairman Mansuetus Darto on Tuesday (24/7) called on the government to set a bottom price for the purchase of oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB) by mills at Rp1,500 per kilogram to assure the survival of oil palm farmers and their family.
GAPKI said that amid the uncertainty in the market, and the heightening trade war tension between China and the United States, the government should accord special attention to the palm oil industry so that palm oil prices do no continue to deteriorate.
Regulations on the management of financial assistance in the Indonesian palm oil sector need to be reviewed because it is not efficient and tended to rather make it difficult for smallholders who should be the main subject in the country’s palm oil economy, a research by a regulation and policy consultancy showed.
Careful selection of oil palm seedling, including by checking on their source, is important if the crops is to produce a good yield and quality, a seed breeder said.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Board (DMSI), Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) India, and Solidaridad Network Asia Limited (SNAL) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement that reaffirmed cooperation between them on a sustainable development of the vegetable oil sector, including palm oil and is derivatives.