Palm oil plantation and cultivation: Prosperity and productivity of smallholders

Abstract

Indonesia developed the Smallholder Plantation Scheme (PIR) in the early 1980s, making smallholders an important part of the national scale. Increasing smallholder yields is an important instrument for increasing local income and livelihoods. However, small-scale oil palm expansion has problems with low productivity and quality of production. Therefore, to increase their productivity and improve their cultivation, this study measures the importance of planting behavior and specific treatment of farmers’ prosperity and productivity. To measure the possible significant differences between and within groups, a statistical approach, ANOVA, has been used while Spearman’s correlation matrix also has been used to measure the correlation between variables. This study finds that good seed treatment and adequate doses of fertilizer are important for farmers’ prosperity and productivity. Smallholder farmers have the least expenditure but the highest average production and income with the most extended growing age when compared with the other two groups of smallholder farmers. Even though the number of seeds used was the smallest, the success rate of smallholder planting was the highest. The optimal use of fertilizer and seed care alone is not significant enough to increase yields. It is a combination of other factors such as planting management practices, drainage capacity and soil substrate properties, climate characteristics, rainfall distribution, nutrient supply, and prevention of plant diseases and also determining maximum yield.

Effect of Transaction Costs on Profit and the Capital Formation of Soybean Farming in Lamongan Regency, East Java

“…Hence, even though it had a significant effect on farming profit, transaction costs would not significantly affect farming capital formation. This study's results are inconsistent with the study of Herdiansyah, Negoro, Rusdayanti, & Shara, (2020), which found that transaction costs significantly affected profit and the farming capital formation in oil palm plantations. It was because farmers worked together or took collective action with the Village Unit Cooperative, which caused large and small transaction costs on profit and farming capital formation.…”

Impacts of and adaptation to climate change on the oil palm in Malaysia: a systematic review

“…In total, 423 functional palm oil processing factories are established in Malaysia (Chiew and Shimada 2013 ). The expansion of oil palm plantation and setting up of large processing companies maximise profit at low cost and minimal labour (Herdiansyah et al 2020 ). These companies are more concerned about high yielding and early maturing oil palm variety seeds (Durand-Gasselin and Cochard 2005 ).…”

Plant diversity, structure and composition of vegetation around Barumun Watershed, North Sumatra, Indonesia

“…Oil palm is a tropical plant that is thought to have originated from Nigeria (West Africa). Oil palm is an important oil-producing crop in the tropical region that can also be used as a raw material for the food and non-food industries (Herdiansyah et al 2020). On the banks of the Barumun River, the oil palm plantations maintained by the local community are one of the primary resources of livelihood of the community.…”