Course Participants Study Oil Palm in Jambi University

JAMBI University gave an introduction on the Province of Jambi and its land use, particularly for oil palm plantation, to the participants of Regular Oil Palm Course 2018 who were visiting Jambi for a field trip. All participants from 11 countries gathered in the campus, Monday (26/11/2018). They are from various background, including consultants, researchers, environment activists and academicians from Australia, the Netherlands, Czech, Hungary, Britain, Italy, France, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Spain. During their campus visit, they were given an introduction on Province of Jambi, as well as about land classification and its use.

They also interacted with instructor to know more about Jambi. ambi was chosen to be location for field trip during the course as it is one of major oil palm producer in Indonesia. Earlier, they visited oil palm plantation in Pulau Pauh Village, Renah Mendaluh sub-distric, Tanjung Jabung Barat Regency, Province of Jambi.

It was a plantation that is certified by the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) which is managed by a group of smallholders called Forum Petani Swadaya Merlung Renah Mendaluh (FPS-MRM). they learned about plantation operations as well as the local culture. They also saw how people make a living from palm oil and learned how the plantation has contributed to economic benefits.

They also exchanged experiences with smallholders about implementation of sustainable oil palm plantation. According to data released by General Directorate of Plantation at Agriculture Ministry, Jambi has 789 thousand hectares oil palm plantation and 578 thousand hectares of them are owned and managed by smallholders. Currently, the province is implementing replanting program to enhance smallholders productivity.

Regular Oil Palm Course 2018 was a short course program organized by Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDPKS), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), and University of Jambi. The program was held from to 26 November 2018. ***