The Portrait of Agronomic activity of Oil Palm Independent Small Holder in West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer in the world. One of the provinces with the largest oil palm area in Indonesia is the West Kalimantan Province, which 1,89 million ha. Of this total plantation area, 54,7% (1.456.534 ha) are smallholder plantations. The use of huge area for oil palm cultivation is often associated with global warming because it is considered to source of carbon release from irresponsible cultivation processes. The main problem of oil palm independent smallholder plantations is the low productivity because of does not implementing the sustainable cultivation technologies. This study was conducted to describe the process of oil palm cultivation carried out by oil palm independent small holder in West Kalimantan Province. The research has been conducted through structured interviews in four districts with a purposive sampling method. The results showed that the most sustainable agronomic activities that have been carried out by oil palm farmers are plantations establishment in non-forest estate (APL) and use of certified seeds. Meanwhile, sustainable agronomic activities that have not been carried out by most oil palm farmers include without-burning land clearing, weed and pest-diseases control according to guidelines, and fertilization, castration, pruning, and harvesting rotation as recommended. On average, the productivity of oil palm independent smallholder in West Kalimantan is about 8,36 tons of FFB/ha/year, still below the Indonesian national average of oil palm productivity. These results indicate that most of oil palm independent small holder in West Kalimantan Province need to increase their agronomic capacity so that their productivity can increase.