Palm Oil Plantations In Indonesia Research Articles

Flammable futures—storylines of climatic impacts on wildfire events and palm oil plantations in Indonesia

Abstract Wildfire events are driven by complex interactions of climate and anthropogenic interventions. Predictions of future wildfire events, their extremity, and their impact on the environment and economy must consider the interactions between these drivers. Economic policy and land use decisions influence the susceptibility of an area to climate extremes, the probability of burning, and future decision making. To better understand how climate-driven drought events and adaptation efforts affect burned area, agricultural production losses, and land use decisions, we developed a storyline approach centered on Indonesia’s 2015 fire events, which saw significant (>5%) production losses of palm oil. We explored analogous events under three warming conditions and two storylines (multi-model ensemble mean climate change and high impact). We employed a model chain consisting of CMIP6 climate modeling to quantify climate change impacts, a wildfire climate impacts and adaptation model (FLAM) to predict burned areas, and the Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM) to predict resultant production losses and socio-economic consequences in the oil palm sector in Indonesia and, by extension, the EU. FLAM is a mechanistic fire model used to reproduce and project wildfires based on various criteria and input variables; GLOBIOM is a global economic land use model, which assesses land use competition and provides economic impacts based on scenario data. We found that total burned area and production loss can increase by up to 25% and lead to local price increases up to 70%, with only minor differences beyond 2.5 degrees of warming. Our results highlight the importance of considering the interactions of future warming, drought conditions, and extreme weather events when predicting their impacts on oil palm losses and burned area. This study sets the stage for further exploration on the impacts of land management policies on local and international environments and economies in the context of global warming.

The Impact of Agriculture on the Consumption of Natural Resources (An analytical study)

This research delves into the multifaceted relationship between agriculture and the consumption of natural resources, highlighting the significant impact of agricultural practices on natural resource depletion. Various studies have explored this dynamic, revealing how technological advancements, government policies, and market access in developed countries have contributed to the increased consumption of natural resources in agriculture. The expansion of palm oil plantations in Indonesia, for instance, has raised concerns about land scarcity and environmental degradation due to soil compaction and water retention issues. Conversely, research in the U.S. suggests that the availability of natural resources, except in cases of major energy supply interruptions, does not significantly constrain agricultural output. The study also examines the role of energy consumption in agriculture, with findings indicating that an increase in gas consumption boosts GDP, whereas higher electricity consumption may hinder growth. Additionally, the research addresses the effects of natural disasters on agriculture, food security, and natural resources, with typhoons notably impacting rice production and household food security in the Philippines. Through a critical and analytical lens, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how agricultural practices influence the depletion of natural resources and explore potential strategies for mitigating these effects. Given the study's outcomes, several policy recommendations emerge as follow: Governments should create incentives for the adoption of renewable energy technologies in agriculture to reduce reliance on non-renewable resources, There is a need for comprehensive water management policies that ensure more sustainable water use in agriculture.

Palm Oil Business Partnership Sustainability through the Role of Social Capital and Local Wisdom: Evidence from Palm Oil Plantations in Indonesia

Sustainable development can only be achieved when jointly considering social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Social capital and local wisdom offer important contributions to the development process and the capabilities of individuals and groups as development actors. This study analyzes the role of social capital and local wisdom in managing business partnerships between farmers and palm oil plantation companies in North Konawe, Indonesia. This research was conducted in a palm oil plantation area by involving landowner farmers, palm oil companies, and other stakeholders such as the local government, NGOs, and academics. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, field observations, and focus group discussions (FGDs), totaling 320 respondents, and analyzed descriptively and qualitatively. The selection of informants for the in-depth interviews was determined by considering their involvement in and understanding of the partnership between farmers and companies in oil palm plantations; field observations were carried out to determine the field conditions of these plantations, while FGDs were held to obtain stakeholder information regarding problems and solutions in implementing farmer and company partnerships with the aim of having a positive impact on economic, social, and environmental welfare. The results underscore the importance of social capital and local wisdom in organizing institutional programs for strengthening palm oil business partnerships. Trust, social networks, and participation negatively affected the sustainability of these partnerships, whilst local wisdom and social solidarity positively influenced institutional strengthening. Company inconsistency and lack of openness can lead to a trust crisis that can threaten the sustainable operations of palm oil companies, while building good cooperative commitment and maintaining collaboration play key roles in enhancing community welfare and increasing company profits. The social capital and local wisdom of farmer institutions in villages are expected to significantly contribute to the establishment of sustainable palm oil business partnerships.

Development of SADS (Soil and Air Detector System) to Support Palm Oil Industries in Indonesia

The issue of environmental damage due to the expansion of palm oil plantations in Indonesia has become a global issue. It has often hampered the development of the downstream palm oil industries in Indonesia. The European market was once closed to palm oil and derivative products from Indonesia. In fact, this industry has become a source of income and employment for millions of Indonesians. Therefore, palm oil industry must be supported with sustainable efforts. One of them is developing SADS (Soil and Air Detector System) model. Which is a tool for detecting soil and air environmental conditions around palm oil plantations. The parameters are soil PH, CO2 levels, temperature and humidity, and sunlight. The measurement results from this tool can be accessed and displayed in real-time via the internet. This is research aims to build a smart system as a solution to environmental problems around palm oil plantations. This is useful for knowing and observing the condition of palm oil plantations and as a basis for taking mitigation actions if the condition is in a critical state

EXPANSION TREND: INDONESIA'S PALM OIL SECTOR GOVERNMENT PLANTATION HEADING FOR EXTINCTION

Palm Oil plantations in Indonesia are experiencing a trend of land expansion. The land expansion makes Indonesia, the country with the largest palm oil plantation land in the world, and at the same time the world's largest producer of palm oil. Land expansion is carried out by Government Plantation, Smallholders Plantation, and Private Plantation. However, when observed in more detail, land expansion from Government Plantation has not shown a significant increase and has recently decreased. Seeing the decline in the land area of Government Plantation amid the trend of land expansion of palm oil plantations in Indonesia, this paper argues that liberalization encourages the government to reduce its economic activity in the palm oil plantation sector, and provides opportunities for the market to develop Smallholders Plantation and Private Plantation. Liberalization encouraged the expansion of plantation land nationally, but limited the increase in the land area of Government Plantation.
 Keyword: Oil palm plantation, Expansion, Government Plantation, Smallholders Plantation, Private Plantation, Liberalization

The moderating effect of employee growth climate on the relationship between work engagement and job outcomes among plantation workers in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

The current study investigates the moderating effect of employee growth climate on the relationship between work engagement and job outcomes among plantation workers in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Three individual-level job outcomes are investigated, namely, intra-role behavior, employee learning, and innovative work behavior. Six hundred and seven Indonesian plantation workers from one of the biggest palm oil plantations in Indonesia participated. Work engagement and employee growth climate were positively related to the three types of job outcomes, as expected. Furthermore, the relationship between work engagement-intra-role behavior and work engagement-innovative work behavior was moderated by employee growth climate. However, no moderating effect of employee growth climate was observed for the relationship between work engagement-employee learning. Thus, organizations may create programs to foster employee growth climate and aware of their employees' learning behaviors.

Palm Oil Plantation in Indonesia: A Question of Sustainability

The soaring price of cooking oil and the shortage of supply in Indonesia since December 2021 have brought the Indonesian palm oil industry back into the spotlight. Indonesia is one of the largest palm oil producers in the world. Although oil palm plantations are recognized as having a major role in alleviating poverty in Indonesia, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the Indonesian palm oil industry, both in terms of poverty alleviation itself and in terms of environmental damage it caused. Using exploratory qualitative method, this paper argues that the palm oil industry controversy stem from different eco-centric and technocentric views of producer and importer countries on how to achieve sustainable agriculture. Using Indonesia as a case, the results shows that arguing palm oil’s role in alleviating poverty and efforts in reducing environmental impact in Indonesia is not enough to quell palm oil industry controversies. The existing sustainability certification system such as RSPO and ISPO are seen as a technocentric solution that is ineffective and inadequate, whereas eco-centric unclear concept of sustainability and the complexity of the palm oil industry production chain is seen as contradictive. The results shows Indonesia needs to further strengthen its perspective on sustainability with more openness of data and improvement of systems in order to overcome the polarization of the narrative that has grown distrust of the palm oil industry. Negative sentiment toward the palm oil industry will not only harm Indonesia's socio-economic status but can also harm the environment, because importing countries may have to abandon palm oil even though they yet have an alternative that is more sustainable than palm oil.

INFEKTIVITAS MIKORIZA TANAMAN KELAPA SAWIT (Elaeis guinennsis Jack.) YANG TERSERANG GANODERMA

Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is an important plantation crop in Indonesia as a producer of vegetable oil and several other derivative products. Palm oil (CPO) production is 47.18 million tons and PKO 4.6 million tons (GAPKI 2019). One of the main obstacles in palm oil cultivation is the presence of biotic stress in the form of Stem Root Disease (BPB) caused by the fungus Ganoderma boninense Pat. is the most harmful disease. In several palm oil plantations in Indonesia, this disease has caused the death of up to 80% or more of the entire population of oil palm plantations. Several factors that influence the development of BPB disease in the field are plant age, soil type, nutrient status and replanting technique. The characteristics of Ganoderma include soil borne, necrotropic and have various means of self-defense, therefore, BPB disease control must be carried out in an integrated manner between the use of resistant palm oil plants, the use of superior biological control agents and technical culture measures. One of the prevention alternatives that can be done is by utilizing soil microbes that can be in symbiosis with palm oil roots, such as Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). Mycorrhizae play a role in improving soil health, are environmentally friendly and able to improve soil nutrient status and agricultural products. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct research on the infectivity of mycorrhizae on healthy plants and plants that are attacked by Ganoderma. Keywords : Ganoderma, Infectivity, Oil palm

Analysis of factors affecting the technical inefficiency on Indonesian palm oil plantation

Indonesia’s palm oil plantation is dominated by three actors. Among three actors, the productivity of smallholder farmers has the lowest productivity. This study aims to analyze the value of technical efficiency and factors affecting the technical inefficiency of palm oil plantations in Indonesia by using the stochastic frontier analysis based on the translog production function. The data used in this study are taken from the Central Statistics Agency (Agricultural Business Household Income Survey) in 2013. The number of samples used was 14,367 farmers. The results revealed that the average value of technical efficiency (58.32%) is still far to reach its optimal, showing that there is still to increase in the efficiency of palm oil plantations in Indonesia. The production function suggests that increasing the number of trees can help to increase the number of outputs. To enhance the technical efficiency, education, age, planting system, seed quality, extension service, and plasma farmer are the significant factors.

Implementation of technology 4.0 in achieving the effectivity and efficiency of the production process in palm oil plantation

Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is a plantation commodity that has a role in the Indonesian economy. The area of palm oil plantations in Indonesia reaches 14,300,000 hectares with 43,000,000 tons of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) production. The implementation of technology 4.0 on palm oil production is needed not only for technology innovation, but also for effectivity and efficiency on production process. This research aims to study the efficiency of resources use and the effectivity of output achievement on palm oil production. This research was done descriptively and quantitatively using primary data, which was direct interviews with the people who works in palm oil plantations, and the secondary data was obtained from research results, plantation company's yearly report, and other literature review. The research result showed that the implementation of technology 4.0 on the recording of employee attendance register and calculation of harvest density rate (HDR) including field and fruit quality was more efficient 25-50% in use of employee and time. The implementation of technology 4.0 was also more effective in achieving output compared to the manual method. The conclusion of this research is the implementation of technology 4.0 on some production process in palm oil plantation is more effective and efficient compared to the manual method. The starting budget on implementing technology 4.0 is higher by 30% compared to the manual method, but it becomes ten times cheaper on the next maintenance cost.

Natural Fiber Waste from Palm Oil Tree: An Overview of Potential Usage for Indonesia’s Affordable House Building Materials

The palm oil plantation in Indonesia is an overgrowing industry that also poses significant environmental waste problems. The industry produces numerous unused biomass wastes such as EFB (Empty Fruit Bunch), PKS (Palm Kernel Shell), tree trunks, fronds, etc. On the other hand, the national housing backlog number in 2019 had reached 7.6 million units. The government had launched several housing programs to tackle this ever-repeating issue. Yet, all of the plans failed to solve the housing shortage. A new approach is needed to provide a cheap, affordable, and more environmentally friendly affordable house. Previous studies proved that palm oil fiber waste could be altered into building materials such as lumber and other biocomposites like particleboard, fiberboard, plywood, etc. Consequently, by using the construction scheme in the RSH affordable house program released in 2002, palm oil fiber waste should be able to displace conventional wood in most of its parts. That is why there is no reason to halt implementing palm oil fiber waste as building materials, especially to build an affordable house. Therefore, the burden of Indonesia's never-ending housing backlog problems should be eased by converting its over-abundant palm oil fiber waste as its building materials new renewable sources. Keywords: affordable house; alternative materials; bio-composite; palm oil fiber waste

Governing the ungovernable: The politics of disciplining pulpwood and palm oil plantations in Indonesia’s tropical peatland

This paper examines new governmental technologies that are emerging in Indonesia to address socio-ecological crises resulting from the conversion of peat forest landscapes to large-scale agricultural plantations. The early implications of Indonesia’s ‘peatland-fire-free’ policy interventions for palm oil and pulpwood industries, including private sector resistance and contestation to this policy, are investigated. Drawing on the Foucauldian concept of disciplinary governmentality, this article analyses the Government of Indonesia’s (GoI) failed attempts to render large-scale peatland users governable. The GoI introduced two peatland disciplinary strategies: a spatial and hydro-governance approach to governing palm oil and pulpwood plantations in peatland landscapes. However, significant contestation and opposition arise from these policies as the state attempts to apply disciplinary logics upon powerful and prickly actors. In this context, contestation reflects the complexities of the existing political economy of peatland exploitation in Indonesia, which is decisively shaped through structural and environmental violence. The paper outlines the elements that limit the prospects for fully-fledged disciplinary governmentality over peatland areas and highlights the messy, insecure and unfinished nature of environmental governance.

The social and economic impacts of peat Land palm oil plantation in Indonesia

The area of peatland in Indonesia reaches 13 million hectares, around 12.37%, 1.67 million hectares, used for plantations. Around 700 to 800 thousand ha are used for oil palm plantations, with a productivity of 20-25 tons / ha / year, this value is no less than that of other types of land. The purpose of this study was to analyze the social and economic impacts of oil palm plantation development, analyze the financial feasibility of cultivation on peat and non-peat lands and analyze the sustainable management model of oil palm plantations. The results of this study, the development of oil palm plantations has a positive impact on economic and social conditions. Social problems arose between the company and the community in the management of oil palm plantations when the government issued a moratorium on permits for the opening of oil palm plantations on peatland due to fire. The exploitation of oil palm on peatlands has lower benefits compared to mineral land. Management of oil palm plantations can be carried out on peatlands, but it is necessary to consider water regulation so that oil palm plantations are sustainable on peatland because peatlands are easily damaged land.

Dynamics of Transmigration Policy as Supporting Policy of Palm Oil Plantation Development in Indonesia

Transmigration is the program that cannot be separated with success story of palm oil development in Indonesia. Transmigrants became the engine to build the palm oil smallholder. The involvement of transmigrant in the PIR-Trans program, primary credit for member Scheme (KKPA), and revitalisation scheme has been accelerating the palm oil plantation development in Indonesia. However, the success of developing palm oil plantation in Indonesia through scheme mentioned above was not without flaws. Unclear of land status or overlapping claim became the biggest problems faced nowadays. This paper aims to observe the development transmigration program and palm oil development in Indonesia. By analysing policies of both transmigration programs and palm oil development from different political administration, this paper shows that, first, transmigration policy went from narrative of security, economic growth to border development and security. Second, under those different policy narratives, transmigration policy has been accommodated to the development of palm oil in Indonesia. Transfer of central authority to local government in executing transmigration movement and settlement has been addition to local government operational permission authority for palm oil development.

Analysis on the feasibility of small-scale biogas from palm oil mill effluent (POME) – Study case: Palm oil mill in Riau-Indonesia

The province of Riau has the most significant palm oil plantation in Indonesia which has the potential of the palm oil mill effluent (POME). One way to use this liquid waste is by the anaerobic process into biogas to generate electricity. Based on the assumption of calculated liquid waste can produce biogas about 538 m3 / hour or equal to 4,600 MJ / hour potentially generate electricity about 1 MW. This paper discusses the scheme of the POME Biogas Power Plant project which benefits the palm oil mill which is Built-operate-transfer (BOT) with a duration of 15 years selected as a reference. With this duration obtained IRR of 17.47% higher than at WACC of 15.61% and a payback period of 5.63 years. The 15-year duration gives Investor resilience in case of an increase of loan interest rate to 13% during the repayment period. Also, the use of alternative schemes that may be pursued by biogas products from cleaned digesters is then used as gas fuel to operate diesel generators. Plant Alternative for BOT duration for five years. The project is very feasible to be implemented with a very high IRR (37.56%) score when compared to WACC (15.61%).

ARTICULATING AGENCY WITHIN SITES OF CONTESTATIONS IN HARAPAN RAINFOREST: PROBLEMATIZING PALM OIL PLANTATIONS IN JAMBI, INDONESIA

The increasing global demand for palm oil due to the global new orientation on bio-fuels has affected the rapid expansion of the palm oil plantations in Indonesia. Previous research findings have shown there are multiple actors involved in the palm oil plantations; however, few have taken into account the social interactions between these actors in relation to specificity of the local context. This article problematize how the actors and networks intertwine with one another as sites of contestations and also negotiations. The main problem to be investigated is how these actors articulate their agencies within the socio-economic and cultural life of the communities, who live around forest conservation in Jambi province, namely Harapan Rainforest. Research findings show that the network of actors is problematic in a sense that each actor‟s agency is mostly overshadowed by their own “politics.” Furthermore, from the ethnographic data, the locals in Jambi perceive and negotiate with this situation in their own framework of social network and cultural capital.

Socioeconomic factors of smallholder farmers’ behavior in biomass burning around palm oil plantation in Indonesia

Indonesian peatland fires has been revealed as the cause of haze disaster in Indonesia, while oil palm plantation’s concesion owned both by companies and smallholder farmers are accused as the main cause of this problem, especially in practice of land clearing. It is very important to conduct research on socioeconomic factors of farmers’ behavior in burning the peatland, while peatland one of the megabiomass storage in nature. The research was conducted in Kalimantan barat, where in province has been choosen two villages as the sample. Observation, interview with quiestionare, and focus group discussion were used in collecting data. In term of analysing the data, regression analysis (ordinary least square) was performed using SPSS Program. The result show that: (1). The socio economics factor that are affecting the burning behavior, were extension’s activities, degree of knowledge, consideration to burn, degree of participation on organisation and degree of cosmopolite. On the other hand, degree of burning frequent, was affected by land productivity, extension activities, and degree of participation in organisation, and finally the size of land’ burning is affected by, the kind of burning’s activities, the mutual aid (social capital), consideration of land burning, degree of awarness, and degree participation on organization.

The Dilemma of Human Security on Palm Oil Plantation in Indonesia

Palm oil plantation has proven to have contributions in increasing Indonesian wealth and economy. The fact that Indonesia becoming the biggest palm oil exporter in the world promises a higher expectation for Indonesia’s economic growth. Meanwhile, this national economic source generates controversies for the environment, health, and social issues besides its advantages. This article discusses the problem caused by palm oil plantation in Indonesia and how it is dilemmatic to human security concept. Palm oil plantation offered affordable and an easy access to material for mass exported products for daily need. The phenomena then become destructive when it comes to political interest related to ecological survival, economic boosting program, health for surrounding communities, and another field in human security issue. This study does not only show the fact that palm oil plantation is needed for the sake of economic growth and national development, but also analyse how economic demand may destruct another aspect of human security. The numerous impacts for long-term economic and development made it crucial to be analysed. While there are many studies about dilemma on human security, yet, only a few studies on palm oil plantation and its progress in Indonesia. This paper seeks to broaden the related literature.

Analisis Pengelolaan Lingkungan Pabrik Kelapa Sawit Batu Ampar - PT. Smart Tbk. Dalam Implementasi Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil

Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) is a standard system of sustainable palm oil plantations in Indonesia are economically viable, socially viable and environmentally friendly which is compulsory in accordance with the regulations. This study aims to analyze the environmental management performance in palm oil mill Batu Ampar and formulate the performance optimization based on the ISPO requirements. The evaluation shows that the company can meet the 38 indicators related to environmental management with some of the achievements include utilization of renewable energy sources that generate energy by 5.0664 million KWh, amounting to 1,677,615.89 liters of diesel fuel savings, reduction in CO2 emissions by 70.63 Kg / ton CPO, chemical fertilizers worth saving Rp.5.750.080,00 / ha / year. The optimization strategy for continuous improvement which is based on the SWOT analysis include: the selection of accredited laboratories, improve the performance of Waste Water Treatment Plant, planned to construct methane capture, optimizing the utilization of solid waste, optimizing the reduction of hazardous waste, provide input in determining government policy, and training routine related to environmental management to improve the competence of personnel. Keywords: environmental management, optimization, performance, sustainable

Financial Profitability and Sensitivity Analysis of Palm Oil Plantation in Indonesia

Oil palm cultivation in Indonesia is increasing. This study investigates the financial and economic aspects of establishing an oil palm plantation using data collected in 2014. The financial case study is undertaken from the perspective of company in North Sumatra, Indonesia. A spreadsheet model was used to develop and calculate the net present value (NPV), return of investment (ROI), internal rate of return (IRR) and payback period (PP). Sensitivity analysis of the NPV to the default discount rate (10%) was included. A 8,000 ha plantation over 25 years was estimated to result in a positive NPV of USD 10,670 with a ROI 73.50% and an IRR at 14.83% and payback period of 6.75 years. Establishing an oil palm plantation seems to be very profitable investment on the basis of the assumptions made. System is tested on sensitivity in different capital and recurrent costs and in selling price of raw material, while change in selling price of FFB is more sensitive to NPV than change in investment and recurrent costs Discount rate is also one of the factors affecting NPV and system is tested between 5-15% change in discount rate.