Flash News
infosawit

Intercrop Innovation in Palm Oil: Escalate Smallholders’ Income



Special doc./Illustration of palm oil and intercrops – corn.
Intercrop Innovation in Palm Oil: Escalate Smallholders’ Income

InfoSAWIT, PANGKALAN LADA – Many smallholders in Indonesia keep improving, making innovation to escalate their welfare and additional values from their business. One breakthrough is intercrop namely when having replanting program. This is successfully managed by Badan Usaha Milik Desa (BUMDes) Karya Mandala Makmur (KMM) in Sub district of Pangkalan Lada, Regency of Kotawaringin Barat, Central Kalimantan Province.

Laying on about 49 hectares, the smallholders in the institutions planted kinds of vegetation, such as, corn, pepper, eggplant, bitter melon, and watermelon. As the results, at least, those joining the group successfully got additional income up to rp 8 million. Group Manager BUMDes KMM, Sartono said the selection of seed was from the people’s needs and wider market potential.

Since the seeds were planted in November 2023, the groups harvested much. Th first harvest they got corn 4,2 tons per hectare, pepper about 0,75 ton per hectare, bitter melon about 25 tons per hectare, and watermelon about 11 tons per hectare. They were sold to Pasar Karang Mulya, Pangkalan Bun, and they used the money for they own need.

 “The harvests from the intercrops were sold by each smallholder to Pasar Karang Mulya. They used their own money,” he said, as InfoSAWIT quoted from the page of Fortasbi, Friday (23/2/2024).

The intercrop is the important strategy for BUMDes KMM to optimize their palm oil plantations namely to solve unproductive areas in immature plants. Though there were challenges, such as, expensive fertilizers, it was nothing for the smallholders.

Sartono also took others to get smallholders replanting program like the institution did by taking advantages on the areas to escalate their income. Intercrop is about to maintain the area fertilizer and deliver income for smallholders namely when the plants are immature.

Intercrops is the same with regenerative agricultural concept to escalate plant diversity in the areas and the soil would remain good and the harvest would be more productive. By taking advantage on kinds of plants, nutrition needs in the soil would be optimally got and would create sustainable agriculture. (T2)


READ MORE ON GOOGLE NEWS.