InfoSAWIT, DELI SERDANG – President Joko Widodo officially inaugurated red palm cooking oil pilot project of Pagar Merbau in Regency of Deli Serdang, North Sumatra Province, Thursday, 14 March 2024. It would be the first red palm cooking oil factory in Indonesia and the good progress in palm oil industry in national scale and for smallholders’ empowerment.
Indonesia, for having about 15,3 million hectares palm oil plantations, and 40,5 percent of the numbers were cultivated by smallholders, would keep escalating the additional values of production in this country. The operation of the first red palm cooking oil should significantly deliver additional values for smallholders.
President Joko Widodo told he himself wanted to get additional value in this country. “That is why we constructed red palm cooking oil factory, as the first one. We do hope this would deliver additional values for smallholders, namely for those who join in (a) unions. Fresh fruit bunch (FFB) would be more stable because it would be processed here to be red palm cooking oil,” he said, as in the official statement to InfoSAWIT, Thursday (14/3/2024).
He also mentioned one mainstay of red palm cooking oil is that to have more competitive price than regular palm cooking oil. It also has vitamin A and E that remain well. This make it not only a product but also be economical for the people.
“The factory within 10 tons of crude palm oil per day – capacity should produce 7 tons red palm cooking oil in each day,” he said by taking every people to use domestic product as the support to market and consume sustainable products.
“This is real part of downstream sector, which is to multiply additional value from (palm oil) commodity by processing it to be a product. Do not sell FFB, do not sell CPO if they can be processed to be like it. This is very excellent,” he said.
The ceremony was attended by Minister of Public Works and People’s Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono; Minister of Cooperation and Small and Medium Business, Teten Masduki; Governor in duty of North Sumatera, Hassanudin; Regent of Deli Serdang, Muhammad Ali Yusuf Siregar; Director of Utama Holding Perkebunan Nusantara PTPN III (Persero), Mohammad Abdul Ghani. (T2)
