Replanting In Smallholder's Oil Palm Plantation 9,109 Hrctares

SERDANG BEDAGAI, North Sumatra, Nov 28 (Antara) - Coordinating Minister for Economy Darmin Nasution said replanting will be launched in 9,109 hectares of smallholders' oil palm plantations in 12 regencies in the province. Smallholders' oil palm plantations are located in various locations in North Sumatra, Darmin said when President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) symbolically planted oil palm seedlings in the village of Kota Tengah, regency of Serdang Bedagai on Monday. The ceremony was followed with the handing over of fund aid for the replanting program and corn seeds for farmers and the launch of People's Business Credit for the farmers. Darmin said the activity that took place in Serdang Bedagai was the continuation of a similar program in the regency of Musi Banyuasin , South Sumatra, where replanting program was launched over 11.9 million hectares of oil palm plantations in October, 2017 with smallholders' plantations making up 41 percent. He said farmers' oil palm plantations need continual management under the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) principle to be accepted in international market. Meanwhile, Director of the Oil Palm Research Center (PPKS) of Medan Hasril Hasan Siregar said replanting of farmers' oil palm plantations used good quality seedlings provided by the Center and Sucofindo. The seedlings were similar to the ones planted in Musi Banyuasin, Hasril said.