Smallholdings are an increasingly important part of the Indonesian palm oil industry. Since 2015, they make up more than 40% of the total oil palm plantations in Indonesia. However, more than 4 million hectares of these smallholdings consist of plants above 25 years old and urgently require replanting. However, many smallholders lack the funds to do so. Therefore, the Oil palm plantation Fund Management Agency (Badan Pengelola Dana Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit/BPDP) created the Communities’ Oil Palm Replanting (Peremajaan Sawit Rakyat/PSR) program, funded by the Indonesian palm oil export levies (under Government Regulation No. 61/2015 concerning Collection and Use of Palm Oil Plantation Funds). As part of the program, BPDPKS holds replanting training for oil palm smallholders in all smallholding plantation centers, including South Labuhanbatu. The Vice Regent of South Labuhanbatu opened the event, with the participants being Dr. Ir. Hasanuddin, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Ir. Gus Dalhari Harahap, representative of Apkasindo North Sumatra, related local government agencies, representing PTPN III, and all training participants. BPDPKS held the training for three days in class, featuring Prof. Dr. Ir. Abdul Rauf, MP, Prof. Dr. Darma Bakti, MS, and Ir. Diana Chalil, MSi, Ph.D. from Universitas Sumatera Utara, and Asian Agri, a company that has successfully trained smallholders. In addition, the event also featured oil palm smallholders from Riau who have undergone replanting with funding support from BPDPKS.

The activity continued with a two-day field trip to the PTPN III Sei Kebara Plantation, the North Aek Nabara Plantation (KANAU), and Asia Agri. BPDPKS expects this field trip to paint a complete picture of the in-class material. A total of 50 smallholders from various sub-districts in South Labuhanbatu participated in this training.

Through this training, participants should be better prepared to replant to improve their performance and welfare.