Cool, IPB Successfully Create Palm Oil Identification Machine

Photo Illustration: Antara

JAKARTA - The Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) University created an oil palm identification machine using a high-resolution satellite image capable of detecting objects per object to map the scale of people's plantations.

Researcher of palm oil identification machines from IPB University Professor Ernan Rustiadi when confirmed, Wednesday, said that agricultural technology in the form of an oil palm identification machine called Oil Palm Identification Based on Machine Learning-IPB (OPTIMAL) is an effort to support the improvement of people's oil palm plantation governance.

"This machine can help map object-based people's palm oil plantations, in this case the oil palm tree is better than area-based technology," said Professor Ernan, quoted from Antara, June 29 morning.

Professor Ernan revealed that mapping people's oil palm plantations is a challenge in itself, because of its characteristics, on average, small size, spread and fragmented. The shape of the mapping is irregular, sometimes located on remote or isolated land and mixed with other agricultural commodities, so object-based technology helps detect more details.

OPTIMAL machines use high-resolution image technology, as they are available for free on computer operating systems and can reach objects sizes that must be detected to be much smaller than objects in drone photo results.

Technology is available in the form of easy-to-use applications that can detect palm oil plants even though they are in a narrow location, spread and mixed with other plants quickly, accurately and cheaply.

Professor Ernan explained that palm oil is a leading commodity that is one of the important sources of foreign exchange for Indonesia. Until now, Indonesia is still a world palm oil producing country.

The productivity of oil palm plantations at competitive oil prices makes it not only cultivated by large companies but also people's plantations.

The government, he said, has also tried to design various programs to improve the governance of people's oil palm plantations. However, the implementation is not optimal, because there is not yet a complete and accurate one related to the distribution of oil palm plantations, so IPB innovation is here to be able to solve the problem.

"OPTIMALs can be used to map oil palm plantations throughout Indonesia, and can be further developed to make allegations of age, production and productivity," he also said.