Indonesia: annual meeting SustainPalm Program at Jogjakarta

Nieuwsbericht | 03-10-2024 | 05:14

The SustainPalm consortium, a Dutch-Indonesian collaboration of Wageningen University & Research, IPB (Institut Pertanian Bogor), ULM (Universitas Lambung Mangkurat), and Hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein, is committed to implementing effective strategies that promote practices that preserve forests, biodiversity and reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions in palm oil cultivation. The focus is on increasing yields, intercropping, integration of cattle in plantations and the circular use of field and mill residues and last but not least the introduction of peat management practices that allow rewetting while still providing a good livelihood.

Halfway through its three-year lifespan, the SustainPalm consortium organized a meeting to assess results and activities, evaluate the program's effectiveness, and, most importantly, gather valuable feedback from our stakeholders. Their input is crucial in defining the route to achieving our ambitious goals.

The meeting was held in Jogjakarta from July 10 – 11, with the key members of the work packages and key stakeholders for policy, companies and NGOs. The meeting was opened with a keynote address by Mrs. Musdhalifa Machmud, the Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, followed by a keynote by Mr. Joost van Uum, Agricultural Counsellor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. In this article, we report the main outcomes per work package. More details and contact points can be found on the website of SustainPalm.

Increasing yield, crops and livestock integration

The activities in this work package aim to demonstrate, scale-up and further develop crop and livestock integration in smallholder and large-scale oil palm plantations. Activities and results are tuned and implemented successfully in various living labs in Sumatra and South Kalimantan. Constant monitoring and sharing experiences through a webinar series serve to foster learning across sites.

PT Arconesia, a social enterprise, is a project partner and has introduced horticulture intercropping with watermelon in smallholders’ oil palm fields and watermelon and banana in a large plantation in Bengkulu. It has also introduced goat keeping with smallholders, using plantation weeds as feed, and returning manure to their oil palm fields. In South Kalimantan, ULM and IPB have introduced corn (food) and jack bean (feed) intercropping in a large plantation. For cattle integration we work closely with SISKA ranch in South Kalimantan. In all cases business models are in place.

The quality and quantity of weeds used as cattle feed were assessed in a plantation with grazing cattle. Intercropping is proposed between young palm trees before they start shading the area. While crops allow to fill the income gap for oil palm growers, land sharing between palm growers and landless crop farmers is also widely practiced, with mutual benefits.

Sustainpalm07 — Package leads Maja Slingerland and Ika Sumantri

At the annual meeting, all project partners and participating organizations, such as Yara and Syngenta, banks, the coffee company, World Agroforestry Centre, oil palm companies, livestock managers, government officials, and other universities, joined live or via the online sessions. The coffee company has provided the coffee during the breaks to emphasize its commitment to coffee intercropping. A lively discussion took place, and joint actions were initiated to support similar integrated systems in other locations. It also became clear that documenting expertise via papers, presentations, and short movies is crucial to support scaling. Experiences were shared via a draft policy brief highlighting practices, potential benefits and caveats of intercropping, and the roles of government and other stakeholders in supporting scaling the activities. In each living lab, local governmental institutes are engaged, and national legislation or subsidy programs for replanting also play a role.

Questions remain about the potential effects of cattle grazing on soil quality, as compaction, pH, nutrient provisioning, and the spread of Ganoderma for which a PhD research project has started with University Gadjah Mada and SISKA ranch.

Sustainpalm 08 — An example of oil palm cattle integration

Sustainable residue uses and circularity

This work package is focused on improving the sustainability of palm oil through increasing the circular and efficient use of mill and field biomass. To improve the efficiency of the palm oil mill, we focus on extracting the residual oil and increasing the methane capture through co-digestion of palm oil mill effluent and empty fruit bunches. To improve the efficiency of biomass residue, we focus on the oil palm trunk and empty fruit bunches.

The workshop provided clear advice on focusing on a limited number of topics. Plans for the final year will focus on stronger engagement with companies, particularly those involved in extracting oil from residue.

Outreach activities and highlighting the options for using oil palm trunks for furniture and building materials, such as connecting with timber trade experts, environmental experts, architects, artisans, and/or woodworking experts from Indonesia, will continue. Raising awareness about oil palm trunk applications will also continue to promote the circular use of oil palm trunks.

Sustainpalm 09 — Discussion during the closing sessions

Carbon and Biodiversity Rich Landscapes

The main aim of this work package is to reduce GHG-emissions from Oil Palm Plantations in (deep) peat areas and enhance, restore, or create biodiversity in and around Oil Palm Plantations. We do so by setting up living labs, which lead to long-lasting, sustainable collaborations between the various stakeholders needed to solve complex issues.

Finding alternative business models replacing oil palm on deep peat areas is difficult. Over the past year we have investigated which approaches are suitable. Theoretically, paludiculture systems in which mixed agroforestry systems on re-wetted peat areas can both reduce GHG emissions, provide income and improve biodiversity. However, getting stakeholders to pursue paludiculture and developing markets proves difficult and the search for the egg(s) of Columbus continues. Potential crops have been identified, and we have investigated what potential markets are available for Purun, Kelakai and Gelam, crops that grow well in the peatlands.

Sustainpalm 11 — Nursery with alternative crops

Theoretically, paludiculture systems in which mixed agroforestry systems on re-wetted peat areas can both reduce GHG emissions, provide income and improve biodiversity. However, getting stakeholders to pursue paludiculture and developing markets proves difficult and the search for the egg(s) of Columbus continues. Potential crops have been identified and we have investigated what potential markets are available for Purun, Kelakai and Gelam, crops that grow well in the peatlands.

During the annual meeting, we also invited other parties, such as Agriterra, Tropenbos Indonesia, Daemeter Consultancy, and PT Palmina, to strengthen the link with the corporate sector and strengthen the business development component in our living lab. Voluntary carbon markets may also be interesting as an intermediate solution and will be investigated further.

In Siak (Sumatra), we have investigated how intercropping during the first years after replanting can increase biodiversity. We also investigated how carbon stocks can be increased in so called 'jangka benah' systems where degraded forest areas are rehabilitated.

Sustainpalm 10 — Discussion during the closing sessions

In the annual meeting, we discussed how we can alleviate some of the current bottlenecks:

strengthen collaboration between the work packages in SustainPalm;
develop guidelines on the Living Lab Concept and clarify the benefits of a Living Lab, how to set up a living lab and how to use the framework that was developed;
the concept of co-creation in our Living Labs needs to be strengthened. Co-creation relates to exchange of knowledge, in which partners stay in dialogue about what they need from other stakeholders, and what they can offer to achieve the larger goal.