Indonesia aims to boost oil palm yields

Indonesia said it is attempting to increase the average yield for its oil palm plantations to 4.5 tons per hectare from the current 3.5 tons to achieve its output target. According to Franky Widjaja, chairman of the country’s Palm Oil Board, small plantation owners were given high-yield seedlings last year, under a government program aimed at boosting yields and productivity. Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of crude palm oil (CPO), is expected to produce 19 to 20 million tons in 2009. According to Bayu Krisnamurthi, a deputy in the economy ministry, Indonesia aims to use 40% of its CPO for energy production, 30% for food production and the remainder for other purposes like cosmetics production by 2020. (May 27, 2009)