InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – By the late of August 2024, some independent smallholders in the Regency of Sintang, West Kalimantan Province got valuable chance to learn about sustainable palm oil practices in Sabah, Malaysia.
It was facilitated by WWF Indonesia and the goal was about to introduce the sustainable palm oil cultivation. Suratno, Manager of Koperasi Rimba Harapan that got Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSP) certificate said that the visit reinforced the spirits of smallholders to adopt and implement better cultivation namely from the environmental conservation.
He also said that in general, there were not many differences between the sustainable practices in Indonesia and Malaysia but the smallholders in Malaysia were more discipline to obey what their government regulated, such as, in Indonesia that published ISPO (Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil). "Only few smallholders realized that the certificate would be significant,” he said, as InfoSAWIT quoted from the official page of Fortasbi, Sunday (20/10/2024).
One thing that really helped the smallholders in Malaysia was that the supports of the government to improve the production infrastructures. The better one would minimize the production cost to be more efficient. But Suratno also said that the fertilizers and fresh fruit bunch (FFB) selling price were not different from Indonesia. “Indonesia has Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency that helps the infrastructures for the smallholders,” he said.
He said that in Malaysia, for every smallholder got certificate, there was no competition of price among them. FFB price that the smallholders produced would be purchased as the certification regulation and the trade got more stable.
In the environment cultivation, the independent smallholders in Sabah were also discipline to maintain high conservation values namely around the river. The trees and river would be 10 (ten) meters in distance. There should be no trees growing. “They breed kinds of plants around the river. We would implement it in Sintang,” Suratno said.
The visit inspired others in Indonesia to keep increasing sustainable practices and conserve the environment. (T2)
