11 March 2025

The target of energy self-sufficiency, one of the steps taken by the government, is to reduce diesel imports through biodiesel production so that our CPO absorption will be more stable, which will increase the price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB).

“This is not only about energy self-sufficiency, food security but also economic resilience,” said the Deputy Chairman of the DPP of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) North Sumatra in the field of Agriculture and Plantations to Tribun Online by telephone recently.

Talking about economic resilience, of course, from the bottom to the top level, from farmers to CPO processing entrepreneurs. This must be managed properly in the country so as to reduce dependence on diesel imports.

“As we all know biodiesel is a sustainable green energy,” said Usli who is also the President Director of PT Mahkota Group Tbk.

That way we are not only talking about energy self-sufficiency, food security, economic security but also at the same time answering the challenges of environmental issues such as the Paris Agreement which we are committed to realizing zero emissions until 2060.

If all stakeholders together can do it, then every year we can reduce carbon emissions and Indonesia will be seen as a pioneer in the environment.

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​Production Level

Currently, 65 percent of CPO and its derivatives are produced for export, with the rest for domestic use. With the government policy that continues to increase the mixture to diesel with palm oil raw materials, of course it will increase the need for CPO in the country.

So Usli continued that the most important thing is how to increase palm oil production, so that the implementation of B40 this year and B50 and so on B60 can be done.

“If we look at the current production of around 47 million tons per year, how can it be increased, this is actually what is rarely discussed,” he said.

Indonesia still has a lot of land that can be used as oil palm plantations.

But that is not a solution, said Usli, because Indonesia still needs land for agriculture, settlements, industry and so on. With the current plantation land, production can still be increased by paying attention to soil fertility with the use of organic fertilizers, compost. This is what is rarely talked about.

So far, farmers have used too much imported chemical fertilizer. We can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers by up to 70 percent by replacing compost and the raw materials to make compost are very abundant.

Source : Analisa Minggu