Vice President Ma'ruf Amin: For The Welfare Of Oil Palm Farmers, The Government Does Not Turn A Blind Eye

JAKARTA - Vice President (Vice President) Ma'ruf Amin said the government continues to take corrective steps to improve the welfare of oil palm farmers, one of which is the lifting of the export ban on all types of palm oil products or cooking oil.

This was conveyed by Vice President Ma'ruf Amin when receiving the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Palm Oil Farmers Association (DPP Apkasindo) at the Vice President's official residence, Jakarta, Thursday, July 28.

"The government certainly doesn't turn a blind eye. So indeed these are things that we must take policies on, which then we must also take corrective steps," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, quoted from Antara, July 29.

The Vice President conveyed several other concrete efforts that the government had taken in increasing the price of palm Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) and lowering the price of cooking oil, including the policy issued by the Minister of Finance, namely the temporary abolition of crude palm oil (CPO) export levies. ) and its derivative products.

"Determined a new DMO (Domestic Market Obligation) policy. The company is obliged to distribute cooking oil, only to get the calculation of export rights and accelerate export distribution for CPO commodities and their derivatives," said the vice president.

Meanwhile, on the downstream side, the Vice President explained that discussions had been held at a Limited Meeting chaired by President Joko Widodo on July 17, 2022, regarding the discourse of establishing a cooperative-based mini CPO factory.

Thus, in the future it is hoped that the price of FFB will increase and farmers will not only depend on large factories.

"It has been discussed regarding the downstreaming of palm oil with one of the articles on the proposal to establish a mini CPO factory and a cooperative-based red palm oil factory. The hope is that it will be a solution for farmers to increase the price and sales volume of FFB, this is still under discussion," said the Vice President.

"Indeed, several times the President has asked for mini factories so that they don't depend entirely on big factories," he added.

The vice president also appealed to Apkasindo's ranks to continue to oversee the implementation of policies in the field and contribute to efforts to improve the quality of human resources for oil palm farmers.

"I hope these smallholder oil palm farmers will be able to grow well," said the Vice President.

Meanwhile, the General Chairperson of Apkasindo Gulat ME Manurung reported that the policy of revocation of export levies issued by the government had a positive impact and was felt directly by farmers.