The government is conducting efforts to develop the upstream sector of public palm plantations by replacing old, unproductive plants, through the public palm revitalization program.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Agriculture Ministry has called for public palm revitalization (PSR) on 2.8 million hectares of plantations to ensure national plantation resilience.

"We have to ensure that this public palm revitalization (PSR) program can go accordingly, and I am confident that this PSR forum can create a beneficial result for Indonesians," Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said at the “National Palm Coordination Meeting” here on Monday.

The national palm sector's contribution is supported by 16.38 million hectares of plantations, 6.9 million of which belong to the people, he noted.

However, public palm plantations are still facing a crisis due to low productivity and unoptimized agro-input. Moreover, the plantations only generate three to four tons per hectare of crude palm oil equivalent.

This situation could compromise the future of national palm oil, if allowed to go unchecked.

"The government is conducting efforts to develop the upstream sector of public palm plantations by replacing old, unproductive plants, through the public palm revitalization program," he elaborated.

The program was launched in 2017. It aims to replace palms older than 25 years, which are not as productive as they used to be, at public plantations. The PSR program targets to replace palms on 180 thousand hectares of plantation land in 21 palm-producing provinces every year.

During the meeting on Monday, director general of plantation, Andi Nur Alam Syah, said that the program is a chance to improve the management of public palm plantations in a sustainable manner.

It is a manifestation of the commitment to encourage public plantation productivity, which would ultimately improve farmers' welfare.

One must not view the program as merely an initiative to replace old plants, Syah stressed.

The initiative must spark innovation and lead to the optimization of plantations as well as empower farmers, he added.

Plantation land could be used to generate extra income for farmers, such as by using it to grow second crops or raise farm animals.

"Today, I compel everyone involved in the PSR program to make it a moment for the PSR program to rise through improvement in the management of the palm sector," he said.

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Translator: Kuntum Khaira R, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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