INDONESIA: Government to rejuvenate 1.2 thousand hectares of rubber plantations in South Sumatra

The government has planned to allocate another IDR 13 billion in state budget fund to rejuvenate 1,200 hectares of rubber plantations in South Sumatra province next year (2019).

The rubber plantation rejuvenation project is aimed at increasing farmers` rubber production, Head of Product Processing and Marketing Section of the South Sumatra Provincial Plantation Office, Rudi Arpian, stated in Palembang, South Sumatra on Monday (17 December 2018). "The fund will be disbursed starting early next year (2019). The amount increases sharply compared to IDR 4 billion for 410 hectares of rubber plantations in 2018," he noted. The increase in the budget fund allocation is part of the government`s commitment to increase the productivity of farmers` rubber plantations, he added.

"The area of the farmers` old or damaged rubber plantations reaches 192,222 hectares out of 1.3 million hectares of rubber plantations in South Sumatra," he remarked. To rejuvenate rubber plantations, the farmers will receive a subsidy of Rp25 million per hectare, and the maximum area of rejuvenated rubber plantations is two hectares. According to Chief of the Rubber Research Center Sumbawa, the rejuvenation of a hectare of rubber plantations will cost IDR 50 million.

The IDR 50 million in funds will be used to procure 550 rubber seeds, NPK fertilizer, pesticides, chainsaw, and other needs, he revealed. In addition, the farmers can benefit from additional sources of fund through the sale of old rubber tree trunks. Every 100 old rubber tree trunks can be sold for around IDR 16 million. On average, every hectare of rubber plantation consists of 500 trees.

Source: Antara News Agency, Jakarta; 17 Dec 2018
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)