Indonesia Preparing New Ministerial Rule on Smallholder Palm Oil Rejuvenation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture is discussing simplifying the rules and requirements for smallholder palm oil rejuvenation, or PSR. Andi Nur Alamsyah, the ministry's director general for plantations, said the simplification of regulations is expected to be published in the next two months.

"Our target is to have a new Agriculture Minister's Regulation published in two months," he said after a national coordination meeting on accelerating the rejuvenation of smallholder palm oil and anticipating the impact of El Niño in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 5.

For now, the Ministry is still using the Agriculture Minister's Regulation No.3/2022, in conjunction with Regulation No.19/2023 on the Development of Human Resources, Research and Development, Rejuvenation, and Palm Oil Plantation Infrastructure Facilities for the People's Palm Oil Rejuvenation Acceleration Program.

"In recent days, the offices of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries have held meetings with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Directorate General of Plantations, Ministry of Agriculture to harmonize the regulations," Andi Nur said.

He said the new regulation was drafted to streamline and optimize the accelerated program for the rejuvenation of smallholder oil palm plantations. It will also serve as a legal umbrella for forest areas and planting rights or HGU.

Until now, the process of verifying the requirements for forest areas has been carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, while for HGU it is under the authority of the Ministry of ATR/BPN.

Andi hopes that this new regulation will simplify the process of verifying forest area and HGU requirements. This new regulation from the Ministry of Agriculture, he said, combines regulations on smallholder palm oil rejuvenation, human resources, research, and facilities and infrastructure.

"The verification is done only once during the rejuvenation of people's palm oil. When you need funding for infrastructure and facilities, you just have to scan a barcode, no more verification process," he said.

In this way, he said, the process of identifying the land status and ownership of plantations will be easier and more efficient in terms of the cost of rejuvenating smallholder oil palm. He stated that the Ministry of Agriculture will continue to be pro-people so that the rejuvenation of smallholder palm oil in Indonesia can continue to improve, both in terms of production and quality.

NOVALI PANJI NUGROHO

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