Smallholders from Riau and South Sumatera Win National Oil Palm Contest

TWO oil palm smallholders were awarded first prize in the oil palm plantation contest which was organized by the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki). The prize were awarded by President Joko Widodo as he opened 14^th Indonesian Palm Oil Conference (IPOC) and & 2019 Price Outlook at Sofitel, Nusa Dua, Bali, Senin (29/10/2018). This annual event is organized by Gapki and also supported by the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDPKS). Gapki, on it press release (19/10/2018), said that the winner of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) contest was Suparji, a smallholders from South Sumatera with his 95 kilogram FFB and the winner of oil palm plantation most productive contest was Asosiasi Petapahan Maju Bersama for Kampar Regency, Riau . Asosiasi Petapahan Maju Bersama was the smallholders association with the most productive plantation in the contest. The plantation they operate could be harvested three times a month with 9 to 10 years in planting age.  The plantation, that has used Topaz seeds since 2008, could produce 22.16 per hectare per year at average in the periode of January-September 2018. By the end of this year, it is projected to produce 30 tons per hectare per year. Asosiasi Petapahan Maju Bersama, which comes from Petapahan Village in Kampar Regency of Riau Province, is a smallholders association that has been a partner of Asian Agri since 2014. It has 129 smallholders who operate 361 hectares oil palm plantation. ***