TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As many as 2,700 independent smallholders with a total estate of 5,500 hectares in South Sumatra have been awarded official certification from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
The smallholders are members of seven village cooperatives in three sub-districts in Ogan Komeng Ilir (OKI) District collectively producing 92,000 metric tons of certified fresh fruit bunches (FFB).
Smallholder association Sapta Tunggal Mandiri chairman Amin Rohmad said he has enjoyed the differences in oil palm plantation management after participating in the RSPO certification.
“We are now trained not to manage plantations recklessly because the RSPO dictates our practices in using fertilizers and chemicals,” he said in the awarding of RSPO certification under Wilmar Group Indonesia in Palembang, Tuesday, August 23, 2016.
Amin said that the adoption of the RSPO standard in plantation management has resulted in lower production costs, enabling smallholders to save money and improve their quality of life.
According to him, four out of seven cooperatives in the association used to be supervised by Wilmar Group’s PT Tania Selatan.
The RSPO-certified palm oil products of Sapta Tinggal Mandiri will be sold via the mass balance supply chain.
He said that the awarding of RSPO certificate shows that smallholders are capable of adopting a sustainable oil palm plantation management.
“We have shown that independent smallholders are capable of meeting the international standard for sustainable [palm oil] if provided with sufficient support,” he said.
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