Replanting Palm Oil and Coconut Destroying Beetles

Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes Rhinoceros)

At present it is estimated that millions of hectares of palm oil plantations need to be replanted immediately (replanting). Potential tens of millions of tons of palm oil trunk can be obtained as biomass waste from these plantations. Processing palm oil trunks to become biomass fuels such as pellets (OPT pellets) and OPT charcoal pellets is a positive idea that should be done. Palm oil mill effluent or POME (palm oil mill effluent) can be used as an energy source or electricity source through biogas powerplant for the processing of these palm oil trunk. But if the palm trunk are not cleaned from the plantation so they decay and rot, then the palm trunk will become larval media. The larvae then become beetles which damage not only the palm oil plantations themselves but also the coconut plantations or palmae botanical group in general. There are a number of areas that have palm oil plantations that are side by side or close to coconut plantations, for example in Riau, so that the beetle is destroying coconut plantations. The urgency of processing old palm oil trunk at these locations is higher than other locations.

Palm trunks left behind in the plantation become breeding grounds for horn beetles

Coconut plantations damaged by horn beetles

The productive age of palm oil trees is around 25 years, while coconut trees can reach 80 years. That means it can be said that the age of a coconut tree is more than 3 times that of a palm oil tree, so that it is unfortunate if the replanting activity actually damages the coconut plantation which has a longer productive age. It also means that when planting coconut trees the benefits should be felt in the next 2-3 generations, while palm oil is only one generation. The factor of preserving ecosystem sustainability should also be considered in replanting palm oil plantations especially those close to coconut plantations. Replanting palm oil plantations should also be interpreted as harvesting biomass as a potential raw material to produce value-added products such as oil palm pellets (OPT pellets) and charcoal pellets (OPT charcoal pellets/carbonised pellet).

Coconut Plantation, Palm Oil and Energy Plantation

Although the plantations are artificial and economically oriented, basically every plantation has its own characteristics. Natural conditions, rainfall, soil fertility, infrastructure, market needs, and topography are a number of considerations for the creation of these types of plantations. Coconut trees and energy trees need easier maintenance than palm oil plantations. Trees and coconut plantations are also very familiar and popular among the people of Indonesia. Even in the last century coconut experienced its golden era. Copra and coconut oil at that time became the mainstay commodity from coconut with enormous economic value. The destruction of the copra and coconut oil industry at that time was due to the negative campaign of the ASA (American Soybean Association), so that the image of coconut oil was destroyed and replaced by soybean oil. But there is a bright spot and a number of indications that the coconut industry will start to rise, for more details read a series of articles on reviving the integrated coconut industry that starts from here.

Coconut plantation in Kulon Progo regency, Yogyakarta

Passing palm oil plantation in the border of South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan

Gliricidae energy plantation in Central Java

While the energy plantation may be for some Indonesians something new, although the plants used for energy plantations are generally well known, namely calliandra and gliricidae. Energy plantations are created primarily to respond to renewable energy needs from biomass, especially wood pellets. Coal power plant is mainly as a producer of greenhouse gases namely CO2 (carbon dioxide) in mass volumes, so that it must be gradually reduced, one of them by fuel from biomass or wood pellets which is carbon neutral fuel. The potential of developing energy plantations is very large because of the enormous need for biomass or wood pellets (read Japan with FIT (feed in tarrif), Korea with RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) and the European Union with RED (Renewable Energy Directive) II), wide millions of hectares of available land and tropical climatic conditions as an ideal area to produce energy from biomass. Indonesia should be able to become the biomass country.

For palm oil plantations, Indonesia is also very well known, this is because Indonesia is the owner of the largest oil palm plantations in the world, with an estimated current area of more than 13 million hectares or about 4 times the area of coconut plantations. There are also many palm oil mills and there are estimated to be around 1,000 palm oil mills. This palm oil tree originated from West Africa which was originally brought by the Dutch colonialist and planted in the Bogor botanical garden, then propagated and developed to date. Indonesia's CPO production in 2017 is estimated to reach 38.17 million tons, PKO 3.81 million tons or a total reached 41.98 million tons. Lately, palm oil has also received various campaigns from the European Union regarding environmental issues. If this is allowed to continue and prolonged, then it is possible that his fate will be the same as coconut oil.

Palm oil trees need more care than coconuts and energy plantation plants. Water and fertilizer needs are also large and vital for palm oil trees. This factor needs to be considered especially those who want to develop palm oil plantations. Coconut trees do not need a lot of water and fertilizer, so it is possible to be planted by intercropping. For example in Sri Lanka, gliricidae as a crop between coconut groves. Even cattle grazing such as sheep, goats and cows is possible between the coconut trees. While the energy plantation, the trunk will be used as raw material for wood pellet production, the leaves are for animal feed such as sheep, goats and cows and the flowers are for honey bee farming.

"There shall not be the doomsday, until the treasures have been piled up and overflowing, until a man goes everywhere carrying his treasures of zakat, but he has not found one who is willing to receive his zakat, and that the land of Arabs is prosperous again with grasslands and rivers ".(HR.Muslim).

The earth will once again prosper before the doomsday. In general such plantations and forests are also the cause of springs (QS 36: 34) which in time will flow into the rivers (QS 19: 24-25) and also be your pleasure and your cattle ( QS 79: 31). Energy plantation and sheep / goat grazing solutions are also like oars, 2-3 islands exceeded, namely energy and food. Indonesia currently only boost one of the elements of food, namely carbohydrates, especially rice because it is also a staple food and the sector is currently not self-sufficient with rice imports reach millions of tons. Whereas in addition to carbohydrates our food composition includes protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. The logic when in the main sector is still not good, then for the other supporting elements will be worse. Sheep / goat farming as a provider of supporting element but very important role of protein.

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industry Part 8: Coconut Milk, VCO, Dessicated Coconut, Coconut Water, Nata de Coco, Shell Charcoal and Activated Carbon

Basically the campaign to save the coconut plantation (tree of life) is to revive the integrated coconut industry. Damaged and not maintained of coconut plantations due to lack of funding to maintain and develop it in a sustainable manner.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system.

Instant coconut milk or packaged coconut milk is almost unthinkable, especially by mothers in Indonesia a few decades ago. Likewise, bottled coconut water, almost all Indonesians were also unthinkable at that time. That is mainly because coconut is very easy to get in almost all corners of the country. But this condition changed when Asian cuisine began to worldwide so that many Western people like it. Coconut milk as one of the main elements of the dish has become a necessity that must be provided. Urban communities with dense population and have a high level of activity, need something practical and instant that makes instant coconut milk products easily accepted. It is also the same as instant food seasoning products that are in demand in urban areas.

Coconut milk and bottled coconut water industry is a type of large industry so it requires a supply of raw materials in large quantities and continuously. To get these conditions in general can only be in coconut plantations which are not infrequently still very remote location. At that location, electricity and a number of supporting infrastructure were not yet available, so the integrated coconut industry could not yet be operated. Electricity is one of the basic needs for industrial operations, so it needs to be made before running the integrated coconut industry such as industries with the main products are coconut milk and bottled coconut water. The production of electricity for this purpose can be done in at least two ways: first, with a steam boiler, as is usually done in a palm oil mill. Coconut coir which has the lowest economic value is used for fuel.

The second way, namely by continuous pyrolysis. Coconut shell can be used as raw material for the pyrolysis. With pyrolysis technology, it would be more profitable because besides electricity generated, heat and charcoal shells are also produced. Electricity and heat can be used for the operation of the coconut processing industry, while shell charcoal can be directly sold or further processed into briquettes or activated carbon. When the need for electricity is large, power plants can use both, namely coconut coir steam boilers and pyrolysis with raw materials for coconut shells. If you want to produce more charcoal, coconut coir can also be used for continuous pyrolysis fuel. The quality of coconut coir is lower than that of coconut shell. This is so that coconut coir charcoal can be used as agricultural charcoal (agri-char / biochar) so that it will increase the productivity of coconut plantations, while coconut shell charcoal for the purposes mentioned above.

Apart from being processed into packaged coconut milk, fruit meat can also be processed into VCO (Virgin Coconut Oil) or dessicated cooconut. VCO production can be done on a medium scale, but currently for the export market or foreign buyers in general require organic certificates. That is also the reason why the production of small-scale VCO for the export market is difficult. Basically, coconuts can be made for a variety of products, according to market needs. Almost all coconut processing industries require electricity and heat for the production process (specifically for the VCO industry, only electricity). The integrated coconut industry approach makes the coconut processing industry more efficient. The combination of the coconut processing industry adjusts to market needs. The dim market for copra & coconut oil, it turns out that little by little is substituted by increasing markets for dessicated coconut, VCO, coconut milk, nata de coco, bottled coconut water and even coconut sugar. Is it possible that the coconut will come back victorious? There are indications there indeed. Wallahu'alam

Building an Export-Oriented Wood Pellet Plant from an Energy Plantation

Although geographically, Indonesia is the largest country in the Southeast Asian region and has a tropical climate, the export of wood pellets from Indonesia is still very small and far less than Vietnam. The destination of Vietnam wood pellet exports to Korea and Japan. Japan's wood pellet imports in 2018 are estimated to be more than 1 million tons, or that number is almost double that of 2017, with a percentage of 63% coming from Canada and 31% from Vietnam. It means a small area but able to export wood pellets to Japan with a minimum of 310 thousand tons / year, while Indonesia is estimated to be less than 100,000 tons / year.

Indonesia is also very potential to develop energy plantations for the production of wood pellets. Even the energy plantation can be integrated with large farms such as sheep, cows and goats and honey beekeeping, for more details, please read here. So that in addition to the energy sector, the food sector and environmental conservation in the form of water and land can also be maintained. Why are currently no wood pellet producers from export-oriented energy plantations in Indonesia? Even though the potential of raw materials and markets is huge. Profit estimates are also interesting especially with the optimization of land use and the energy plantation harvest.

There are several analyzes, to answer this, among others as follows, first is market access. The market or buyer is important for investment in a wood pellet factory worth hundreds of billions, so the market guarantee is very important. Abundant production but no one absorbs it or the buyer will make the factory stop production and go bankrupt. The characteristics of wood pellet products will also determine the user or user of the wood pellet. Although the same is for power plant consumption but the power generation technology is also different, so it requires different technical specifications of wood pellets.

Second, the cost factor. Cost factor may be the main obstacle, this is because wood pellet plants from energy plantations are not something cheap, but they are generally cheaper than palm oil mills and plantations, for more details, please read here. But with good prospects in the renewable energy sector from biomass, there should be many investors interested in investing in this business. Non-usurious mutual investment is the best choice to execute it. It is estimated that for wood pellet plant with a capacity of 10,000 tons / month (20 tons / hour), more than 100 billion rupiah.

Next, the third factor is infrastructure. A number of regions do not yet have adequate infrastructure despite the vast available land. Provision of infrastructure such as roads, bridges and so on is not something that is easy and inexpensive, so that it can be a significant obstacle. This is why site selection is important. The availability of electricity is another thing that needs attention and is an important consideration. Electricity is vital for wood pellet production or factories. If it turns out there is no electricity supply, then the wood pellet plant must make a power plant. With a range of 250 KW of electricity demand per ton/hour of wood pellet production, for wood pellet production with a standard export volume of at least 10,000 tons/month or 10,000 tons/shipment or 20 tons/hour requires 5 MW.

The power plant is quite large, as comparison because for the size of a large palm oil mill the electricity needs are only around 2.5 MW and the investment in power plants for each MW is 1 million US dollars, so for 5 MW it requires 5 million US dollars or around 70 billion rupiah. Infrastructure such as adequate ports is also very important. Wood pellet plants generally have wood pellet storage units close to the port so that they are easy to ship. The wood pellet storage facility with a capacity of 10,000 tons also requires a large enough building, estimated at more than 50 billion rupiah.

Wood pellet port with storage facility at Prince Rupert, BC, Canada

At present, wood pellet production generally only relies on sawmill waste and wood industry waste. Supply of raw materials fluctuating in both quality and quantity. In the rainy season in general, wood processing factories need more waste as fuel to dry wood they processed, so that wood waste that can be taken is reduced or only a little, even not left. This is different from the production of wood pellets from energy plantations because it guarantees a better supply of raw materials. But cultivation and harvesting technology must also be mastered properly to be able to better guarantee the supply of raw materials to the plant. For plants, guaranteed supply of raw materials is vital. The plant will immediately close if there are no raw materials to process. Wood pellet plant generally have a large warehouse of raw materials, which also functions as a buffer for their production.

Next is the mastery of wood pellet production technology itself. To maintain the quality and quantity of wood pellets that are as expected, the mastery of production technology is absolutely necessary, in addition to handling the product to the shipment. The critical points of the production process such as particle size, level of dryness, pelleting and cooling must be of particular concern. Wood pellet products that can be accepted by the international market almost all must meet two standard requirements, namely quality standards and environmental standards (sustainability). Quality standards are closely related to the technical aspects of the wood pellet itself or its production aspects. While environmental aspects are closely related to the origin of raw materials, and various environmental aspects that make wood pellet raw materials sustainable, and for more details can be read here.

The momentum of the energy plantation is predicted to not be long anymore, even Sri Lanka will soon produce wood pellets from the gliricidae energy plantation of 150 thousand tons/year or more than 10,000 tons/month, for more details, please read here. Gliricidae as well as calliandra are a group of leguminous plants (leguminoceae) and gliricidae are more popular and have been planted by the community since tens or even hundreds of years ago which is usually for hedgerows and leaves for animal feed. While the red calliandra, which may have been planted by the community for hundreds of years, is generally only for high areas. For a more detailed comparison of calliandra and gliricidae plants, please read here.

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industry Part 7: Production Integration of VCO, Nata de Coco, and Shell Charcoal

Basically the campaign to save the coconut plantation (tree of life) is to revive the integrated coconut industry. Damaged and not maintained of coconut plantations due to lack of funding to maintain and develop it in a sustainable manner.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system.

One of the fundamental questions about the integrated coconut industry is why should the coconut business be made in an integrated manner? Why not just process one part of the coconut? In almost all regions coconut is sold in the form of whole coconut without coir. When the raw material is whole coconut, all parts can be processed and become various products. And when only processing one part of coconut as an example of a shell for the production of charcoal and coconut water for the production of nata de coco, then that means only taking waste or byproducts from processing or utilizing the main coconut which in general is coconut meat. This condition is very dependent on the processing or main utilization of the coconut fruit. The same thing is similar to the biomass processing industry such as wood pellets and briquettes originating from sawmill waste or the wood industry. And when all parts of the coconut can be processed, it will be more economical and efficient and no waste will be produced. The combination of these types of coconut processing also determines the level of efficiency and economical production. The efficient use of energy is one of the keys to its success. So if the combination of coconut processing can make energy use efficient, so that the use of external energy can be reduced or even eliminated, then that is the best condition sought.

VCO is quite well known and popular among the people of Indonesia. Some time ago this product exploded in the market and many small industries have sprung up to produce it. Unfortunately this trend only lasted a short time. With the decline in the demand for VCO in the country quite a lot of these producers who close their businesses and switch to other professions. VCO has the main content in the form of lauric acid, which is a medium chain fatty acid (MCFA: Medium Chain Fatty Acid) that has many health benefits. Consuming VCO will also provide instant energy addition, and not be stockpiled in the form of fat. For more clearly read here. Besides being in VCO, lauric acid is also found in palm kernel oil (PKO) and mother breast milk. Palm kernel oil mills (PKO mills or KCP: kernel crushing plants) are not as many as palm oil mills (CPO mills). Many CPO mills do not have kernel processing (KCP) or the palm kernel.

Palm kernel oil (PKO) is also commonly called lauric oil and is a competitor for VCO. This is also the case among competing palm cooking oils and coconut cooking oils. Some parties may be more interested in VCO because it comes from coconuts, whereas PKO comes from palm oil and is currently undergoing a bad campaign from Europe, although this could be part of a trade war. Coconut oil from copra has also experienced the same thing. Indonesia, which has historically been the largest producer of copra, has subsequently its coconut industry been destroyed due to a trade war with soybean oil in the United States.

As for the export market, besides requiring better specifications or quality, it is also generally required to be accompanied by organic certification. Organic certification is something that is not easy especially for small businesses. Information from the APCC (Asia Pacific Coconut Community) that the Philippines is the largest producer of VCO at present even though the area of coconut plantations is still below Indonesia with export volumes continuing to grow. It was noted that the Philippines' VCO exports in 2006 were 461 tons, then nine years later, in 2015 it increased to 36.3 thousand tons. The coconut industry in the Philippines is also more developed than in Indonesia, this is evident from the many export commodities from coconut products. The Philippines exports 30 kinds of coconut products while Indonesia only has 14 kinds of products.

The combination of integrated coconut processing that can be combined with VCO production is the production of nata de coco and coconut shell charcoal. VCO production can be done on a medium scale so that the coconut shell produced is also not so much that the production of charcoal with carbonized furnace in batch is sufficient. The heat lost or wasted from the carbonization process can then be taken again and used to cook coconut water in the production of nata de coco. In addition, if the nata de coco is sold in ready-to-consume form, the nata de coco needs to be cooked at least 3 times so that it becomes soft and clean. Cooking can also use waste heat from the carbonization process. The production of nata de coco will be competitive and more profitable because it does not need to use external thermal energy such as LPG.

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industry Part 6: Integration of Dessicated Coconut Production, Packaged Coconut Water, and Shell Charcoal

Basically the campaign to save the coconut plantation (tree of life) is to revive the integrated coconut industry. Damaged and not maintained of coconut plantations due to lack of funding to maintain and develop it in a sustainable manner.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system.

Dessicated coconut is not very popular in Indonesia. This product is used in the food industry for a mixture of cakes and chocolate so that it gives the flavor of coconut and much later became a favorite food in Europe. This product was originally discovered in Sri Lanka from Henry Vavasseur's drying experiment of grated coconut in 1888. There are 3 countries that are currently producing dessicated coconut, namely the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The need for this dessicated coconut product also continues to increase, namely recorded export of dessicated coconut in 1990 amounting to 151 thousand tons and in 2008 it increased to 248 thousand tons. In Indonesia alone, it is estimated that there are around 20 dessicated coconut (DC) factories.

DC is produced by drying grated coconut until the water content reaches a maximum of 3%. A dryer commonly used for DC production is a fluidized bed dryer. This dryer has advantages including high sensitivity for its operations, so it is commonly used for food and pharmaceutical products. Rotary dryer is a type of dryer that is also popular in the industry, especially in biomass processing such as wood pellets and briquettes, for more details, please read here. Rotary dryer types are more suitable for materials that are not too sensitive to heat, are not easily broken when dropped and heavier materials. That is why rotary dryers are more suitable for materials such as minerals, fertilizers and so on. Rotary dryer can be said to be heavy duty processing load and requires a wider space, while fluidized bed dryer for lighter-duty materials and requires less space.

For drying the grated coconut, heat energy is needed and for the operation of the plant's equipment such as shredding, conveyors, etc. electricity is needed. Both of these energies can be fulfilled by using a continuous pyrolysis unit. Coconut shell is used as a raw material for continuous pyrolysis, so that the output is in the form of charcoal, syngas and biooil. The charcoal can be sold for immediate use, made briquettes or activated carbon. For electricity production, syngas is used for fuel the gas engine (internal combustion engines) which convert heat energy into mechanical energy then into electrical energy. And biooil can be a source of heat both for boiling or sterilizing coconut meat as well as for a heat source for drying grated coconut with the heating media not in direct contact (indirect heating) with the grated coconut.

With the above pattern, the integrated coconut industry is energy independent or does not require energy supply from outside. This condition is very attractive especially for operations in remote locations. This energy independent industry practice is common in the palm oil industry. Palm oil mills usually burn shells and fiber for the production of electricity and steam. Why besides electricity, does the palm oil mill also produce steam? For more details, you can read here.

At present a number of palm oil mills have even used efficient boilers so that it is sufficient with fiber only and the shell can be sold or exported abroad. Though there is a better or more efficient way to produce electricity and steam, which is also by continuous pyrolysis, for more details read here. The shell, which is a biomass fuel, has properties almost similar to wood pellets at a cheaper price and is still abundantly available. Japan and Korea are the two countries in Asia that are most striking in the use of biomass energy related to climate change mitigation and global warming.

Coconut shell charcoal is a sought-after product, so the price is also increasing every year in accordance with market laws, namely supply-demand. The production of coconut shell charcoal will provide an attractive additional income compared to just being burned to ash and making a zero waste integrated coconut industry.

The DC industry is usually large enough in scale or production capacity to produce quite a lot of coconut water. Coconut water can be processed into bottled coconut water, which also requires electricity and heat in the production process. Electricity and heat production can use coconut fiber as fuel. Burning coconut fiber to heat the boiler and produce electricity, similar to the palm oil mill. Steam is produced to heat or sterilize the coconut water. The demand for bottled coconut water increased rapidly, from 484 thousand liters in 2009 to 71.7 million liters in 2015, or 141 times.

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industry Part 5: Integration of Production of Shell Charcoal, White Copra and Nata De Coco

Basically the campaign to save the coconut plantation (tree of life) is to revive the integrated coconut industry. Damaged and not maintained of coconut plantations due to lack of funding to maintain and develop it in a sustainable manner.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system.

Almost all traditional charcoal producers have wasted a lot of energy in the carbonization process. Why is that ? Is not energy really needed in almost all industries, even in a number of industries, energy is the highest cost component? Besides being inefficient, isn't that the same as wasting money in vain? That is because in the production of charcoal with a conversion of around 25%, more than half is wasted. As an illustration like the following count. For example, we take a 25% conversion, with 10 tons of coconut shell raw material, 2.5 tons of charcoal is produced. Coconut shell with a calorific value of around 4,500 kcal / kg, means that 10 tons of raw material amounts to 45,000,000 kcal. Whereas coconut shell charcoal with a heating value of around 8,000 kcal / kg, then 2.5 tons of charcoal will have a heating value of 20,000,000 kcal / kg. Based on these calculations more than 50% of energy is lost or only wasted, which is 25,000,000 kcal. If the conversion to charcoal is lower or 20% then the energy loss is even greater, namely 29,000,000 kcal or more than 60%. Of course it is very inefficient.

If the energy can be used optimally, of course the industry will become efficient and competitive. In the coconut industry where all its parts can be utilized, then it becomes very interesting. That is because the excess energy or energy that was previously only discharged can be used again for the processing of the next products or called the term waste heat recovery. White copra and nata de coco production can utilize the waste heat so that it no longer needs an external energy supply. With this concept, there are three products obtained, namely coconut shell charcoal, white copra and nata de coco.

The use of coconut shell charcoal that can be as direct fuel, or further processed into briquettes or activated charcoal. Besides being used in domestic or local markets, coconut shell charcoal is also an export commodity. Noted the export value of Indonesian coconut shell charcoal reaches 250 thousand tons / year, while by making briquettes and activated charcoal, greater value added will be obtained. Coconut shell charcoal briquette exports reach around 20 thousand tons / year while active charcoal is still relatively low at 25 thousand tons / year while providing the highest added value. Whereas white copra is the raw material for making coconut oil and for the main export destinations are India and Bangladesh. During its heyday, Indonesia was once the largest copra exporter in the world. As the use of coconut oil decreases, copra exports also decline. The world's white copra exports were 137 thousand tons in 2013 (APCC-Coconut Statistical Yearbook, 2013) with a total value of more than 2 trillion rupiah. Whereas nata de coco in general makes packaged drinks and many products can be found in various shops to supermarkets. The needs of nata de coco tend to increase with the population or more specifically in line with the growth of the food and beverage industry which reaches above 8% every year. It is estimated that business value for national nata de coco can reach 1.6 trillion rupiah, if managed properly.

Integrated Coconut Industry Diagram

In the carbonization process (pyrolysis) which is a partial oxidation with limited air even without air, a certain amount of gas will be produced. And because it is not a perfect combustion process, the gas is not only CO2 and H2O, but a number of combustible gas and can also be used as fuel. In the process of copra production, it is necessary to do a drying process of about 50% to 5% moisture content by indirect heating (indirect heating) then the gas produced from the carbonization process (pyrolysis) can be used as a source of energy. Likewise, this energy can also be used to cook coconut water which is used for the production of nata de coco. And if the nata de coco is further processed into a variety of packaged drinks it needs to be cooked at least 3 times for the impurities and soften the fiber. The cooking process also requires energy and gas from carbonization as an energy source. By minimizing these energy costs, production costs can be reduced and business profits increased. For those who are interested in applying the above concept, please contact us at cakbentra@gmail.com

Reviving the Integrated Coconut Industry Part 4: Analysis and Projection

Basically the campaign to save the coconut plantation (tree of life) is to revive the integrated coconut industry. Damaged and not maintained of coconut plantations due to lack of funding to maintain and develop it in a sustainable manner.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system.

 The Monas monument in Jakarta is so monumental and so famous that almost all Indonesians know it, even the Jakarta province uses the monument as its government logo or icon. But very few know that the 32 kg gold which is the top of the Monas monument, 28 kg or 87.5% (say almost 90%) comes from the contribution of coconut entrepreneurs, namely from the copra trade. Coconut has indeed experienced the glory of even having a large role in Indonesia's independence. A number of ammunition of wars to various important events in the framework of Indonesia's independence were financed by the copra trade. Copra is the raw material for coconut oil which later becomes a number of derivative products that are highly needed by humans. The era of the triumph of copra or coconut oil revolves around the transition period of the 19th century to the 20th century or more precisely between the 1870s to the 1950s and its heyday in the 1920s.

Why now copra and coconut oil are especially sinking and unable to compete with palm oil? The long history of trade competition is the answer. Some parties, especially the American Soybean Association (ASA) accuse coconut oil as an evil oil that contains cholesterol and saturated fat clogging coronary arteries. The accusation has never been proven right, in fact it proved to be the opposite, but it is one of the main reasons for the destruction of the global copra and coconut trade. The campaign and the tropical oil war took about 30 years or in the 1950s to the end of the 1980s in the United States and eventually the Indonesian coconut industry collapsed.

If we look at palm oil, it turns out the same thing happened. For some time Indonesian palm oil has also received a negative campaign due to environmental destruction so that Europeans do not want to buy palm oil from Indonesia. It could be and it is probable that this is also an effort to weaken and make the palm oil industry will also be dropped later. But because it has only been running for a few years, it seems that the effect is not very visible at this time. And if it is done massively and continuously and there is no significant resistance, then it is not impossible that the fate of the palm oil industry is also similar to the coconut industry. The statement that 'only donkeys fall into the same hole twice' is something that needs to be pondered deeply to analyze this.

Coconut fruit

As an additional reference, Indonesia, which in the colonial era as one of the main producers and exporters of cane sugar, is currently also having a misfortune because besides being no longer an exporter, it has become one of the largest sugar importers. In 2016 Indonesia became the largest sugar importer in the world with a value of $ 2.1 billion or around Rp.28.4 trillion. The value of Indonesia's imports was greater than the three other importing countries whose populations were actually greater than those of Indonesia, namely America ($ 1.9 billion), China ($ 1.2 billion) and India ($ 922 million). There are quite a lot of sugar factories in Indonesia, namely more than 180 units, but most of them are currently not actively producing and most are on Java. The total national sugar production is 2.2 million tons with a sugar cane plantation area of around 0.5 million hectares and an estimated need of 5.7 million tons so that production still needs to be increased.

Indonesia, the majority of which still exports raw materials for industries in other countries, also indicates that it is a developing country, so this condition should also be improved. Export of a variety of finished products or a minimum of intermediate products must be sought. Export of whole coconut is one thing that must be avoided and replaced with exports of processed products. When we talk about reviving the integrated coconut industry, but on the other hand, whole coconuts as raw materials are directly exported without processing it is a lie or it's useless. Industries without raw materials will surely die. Exporting whole coconut with an estimated number of four billion items annually is a setback. How not, in the history of the glory of the coconut, Indonesia exports in the form of a minimum of copra, while today it even exports whole coconuts. Industry era 4.0 also has no meaning with conditions like this.

Of course it needs good regulation and cooperation between various parties to overcome this. Indeed, there are also policies from developed countries to limit the development of developing countries' industries, for example during the heyday of coconut in Philippines many exported copra to the United States and the United States gave some import taxes to the Philippines on condition that the Philippines not develop its coconut industry. And indeed in that era many copra processing industries located in Europe and the United States.

Palm oil fruit

Even in the current era of bioeconomy all commodities of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and animal husbandry should support each other to make a strong economy, for example with agro-forestry will be able to optimize the potential of land and environmental balance. Don't let the dichotomy and contradiction occur so that between bioeconomy-based products weaken each other, for example coconut oil and palm oil should be able to have their own segments or even from the beginning it has been designed that coconut for mainly non-oil food products and palm oil for oil products because the productivity of oil per hectare is the largest of all plants. Coconut oil and palm oil (CPO) have different qualities, because coconut oil has a medium chain bond or MCFA (Medium Chain Fatty Acid) while palm oil (CPO) has a long chain bond or LCFA (Long Chain Fatty Acid). Coconut oil which is rich in lauric acid is similar to palm kernel oil (PKO). Besides being found in coconut oil and palm kernel oil (PKO), lauric acid is also found in mother breast milk.

When the European Union for example with its bioeconomy makes various efforts to obtain various sources of energy, food, chemicals and so on from living things or biomass, then we should realize that Indonesia's position in the tropics is the best position to lead the bioeconomy era on condition that managed properly. Do not let the great potential just be useless and even bring disaster like some time ago, namely natural wealth invites the invaders and the Indonesian people were colonized due to the devide et impera politic. As a result, instead became a slave in their own country. Indonesia should be the largest producer of biomass, the biomass country.

As palmae plant groups there are many similarities between palm oil and coconut. And specifically the case in Indonesia, for example the productivity of coconut and palm oil is also still less than other countries like Malaysia, so this needs to be improved. But the number of palm oil processing industries starting from the production of CPO and its derivatives is currently more than coconut, which is estimated to be around 1000 pieces while the area of palm oil plantations is also almost 4 times that of coconut plantations. Palm oil production is currently reaching 38.17 million tons for CPO or 41.98 tons in total with palm kernel oil (PKO) in 2017 or the largest in the world. With CPO production of 38.17 million tons, the use in the food sector, especially cooking oil, is 3-5% (equivalent to approximately 2 million tons). In other sectors, CPO derivative products such as oleochemical 3.8 million tons / year ago, the energy sector, biodiesel 2 , 5 million tons, and the rest export around 70%.

There is an analysis that indicates that the coconut industry will rise with a number of products starting to demand the market, including the most striking coconut water, followed by coconut milk, dessicated coconut and VCO. But unfortunately most of the success is not in Indonesia but in other countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India. In fact, there are even products whose raw materials from Indonesia after being ready to sell products are sold back to Indonesia, namely coconut milk which is the source of coconut from Indonesia. Thus the actual analysis that the coconut industry began to stretch has a point especially at the global level, while for the domestic indicators there are almost no indications, only small spots are still too early to be said to rise. With an estimated 14 billion nuts produced annually in Indonesia, there are around 3 billion liters of coconut water, or when converted to VCO to 1.4 million tons, dessicated coconut to 1.7 million tons while coconut shells are 2.5 million tons and coir/fiber of 5.6 million tons.

Indeed, in the current era of bioeconomy, it is a natural thing that in the past it became trash and discarded, and now it is a commodity that is sought and even competed, for example coconut water that was once thrown away, is now accommodated as raw material for nata de coco and bottled coconut water, coconut shells and coconut husks, then palm kernel shells which were originally only thrown away as a road hardener/ improvement are now widely sought after and used as fuel for power plants with very large demand, more details can be read here. Some coconut products that are starting to be in demand, there is already demand and it is projected to continue to increase is coconut water. The Philippines exported 484 thousand liters of coconut water in 2009 to 17.9 million liters in 2012 and in 71.7 million liters in 2015 or there was a 141-fold increase in 8 years. To produce 71.7 million liters of coconut water, 261 million coconuts are needed per year. And it is estimated that the bottled coconut water market currently reaches 13 trillion rupiah. Unfortunately there is no information for Indonesia. Almost all of the coconut water products are exported to the United States and usually a close relationship with the buyer's country which is closely related to historical factors will facilitate business transactions. Maybe that's why the no. 2 coconut producing country in the world can export more their coconut products to the United States.

Coconut milk packaging is used not only for cooking but also for vegetable milk, such as soy milk. China is a country that consumes a lot of coconut milk to replace animal milk, with China as its biggest consumer. Whereas dessicated coconut, there are currently 3 main producers namely the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. At present it is estimated that more than 20 dessicated coconut plants in Indonesia. The demand for dessicated coconut was quite large at 151 thousand tons in 1990 to 248 thousand tons in 2008.

Will the Indonesian coconut industry be able to rise? Of course it can, but there are a number of conditions that must be met. The rise of the coconut industry must be led by people who have adequate capability so as to understand the core problems and be able to map problems accurately in this sector and provide solutions. A leader is a person who has a vision and lives or implements his vision until the goal is reached. Leaders who do not have the strong driving force to implement their vision will not have the drive to be moved to create the solutions needed. With the efforts of various parties and always praying to Allah SWT, God willing, will be realized.

Coconut is very close to people's lives, so the community can actively participate in advancing the integrated coconut industry. Integrated coconut industries can be made in centers of coconut plantations, even in remote locations as long as there is access to market their products. Market access and control are important. When the market has been acquired and controlled, production activities can be easily carried out. It's useless to build a factory or industry if you don't have a market. The pattern of mutually beneficial cooperation (non-usury) such as syirkah with profit sharing will make the industry stronger. Insha Allah. That is because from coconut can produce a lot of products that can be commercialized and will bring blessings. Large companies have also been prepared to take this opportunity, so do not miss it. Things that need to be pursued so that assets do not only revolve in certain circles as is currently the case with the application of capitalist economy. With the current economic model it takes 800 years for the bottom billion people to reach 10% of global income. As a result of the current liberalism and capitalism, the richest 10% control 85% of global wealth. The three richest people in the world have assets of more than 47 countries GDP, the lowest gross GDP. 1% of the richest people own more than 50% of the world's wealth. This huge inequality should be overcome immediately with a fair and prosperous economy.

Will coconut be back victorious and become a locomotive in the current bioeconomy era? Can coconut be able to move the economic sector back heroically as an important commodity that has a role in Indonesia's independence? Or is it even in the 'lullabies' with the many potentials of this country but is unable to exploit it and instead invites new 'invaders'? Wallahu 'alam

Energy Plantation: Planting Calliandra and Gliricidia?

Each plant has an optimum location for its growth. Although it can grow if it is not at its optimum location, the results are not as good as the optimum location. Plants that are planted in their optimal locations will have great expectations for achieving optimal results, both wood, fruit, flowers and so on. When planting tea, apples, or edelweiss in the lowlands or even on the sea coast it is almost impossible to get the optimum results, maybe even wither and die. The selection of the best location that matches the characteristics of the plant is important to get optimum results from the cultivation.

Gliricidae on the seashore of Depok, Bantul, Yogyakarta

Red caliandra on the slope of Mount Merapi, Magelang, Central Java

Likewise, the energy plantation. In addition to the selection of plant species to be planted, the location of the plantation should also be considered in relation to the types of plants to be planted. Energy plantation generally use fast growing species and short rotation coppice (SRC) plants of leguminoceae because they have many advantages, among others, fast harvest age (on average only 2 years), maintenance is very easy, does not need replanting up to a dozen years, the roots can absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere so that it fertilizes the soil, its roots are also strong so that it can withstand erosion, plants are also very efficient in the use of water so that it can be planted in even barren areas, the leaves are for high nutritious animal feed, and the flowers are for honey beekeeping. In short to optimize the use of the land, the energy plantation is integrated with the livestock business.

Gliricidae & calliandra are 2 species commonly used as energy plantation plants. Gliricidae is more suitable for the lowlands to the coast, while calliandra for the highlands. The practice of calliandra planting is also widely practiced in high areas, whereas gliricidae in the lowlands. Temperature, humidity, soil fertility, rainfall also influence to produce optimal energy plantation products. Sri Lanka is an example of a country that has a lot of gliricidae, especially as a crop between coconut trees. Indonesia as a coconut island seduction country should also be able to do the same thing. Under these conditions, wood pellet production can also be done as well as reviving the integrated coconut industry (more details can be read here, here and here) and livestock, for the best land optimization.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system. With the pattern above, energy plantation can be created in many central locations coconuts in Indonesia such as Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, Gorontalo and South Sumatra to optimize the potential of the bioeconomy. In addition, millions of hectares of idle, marginal, barren land and critical land can be revived and saved to bring profit. Even hardwood trees in HTI (industrial timber plantations) which take a long time and also sometimes require high social costs for maintenance can also be converted to fast-growing species and SRC plants with energy plantations. Untreated land will be increasingly damaged such as erosion, landslides to desertification so that the mission of saving the environment has also automatically become part of the energy plantation activities above.

Eco-Tourism with Palm Oil Plantation Part 2

Even though the palm oil plantation is the largest in the world, reaching more than 12 million hectares and consumes processed palm oil products everyday, namely cooking oil, there are still many who do not know that the palm cooking oil used originally came from palm fiber and not from palm fruit meat or palm kernel. The majority still thinks that oil from palm oil is the same as oil from coconut, that is, from the meat of the fruit. Although oil from palm fruit can also be produced, namely palm kernel oil or PKO (palm kernel oil), but the amount is small, which is only about 10% of CPO and its use is also not for cooking oil, but for cosmetics, soap, oleochemicals and sources of vegetable fats . One of the highlights of palm kernel oil is its high lauric acid content, and this is almost the same as coconut oil. In addition to the two ingredients above lauric acid is also found in mother breast milk. And lauric acid has many health benefits, for more details, please read here. Currently palm kernel oil is also more widely used than coconut oil as a source of lauric acid.

Meanwhile, what is called palm oil is identical oil derived from its husk (mesocarp fiber) which is also commonly called CPO (crude palm oil). CPO is the most produced oil from the processing of palm oil fruit or fresh fruit bunches (FFB). When we hear about palm oil mills, this is also identical to CPO mills, although PKO mills are also palm oil mills, for reasons as above. CPO mills are also far more in quantity than PKO mills, this is because not all CPO mills have PKO mills. So that the kernel produced from the CPO mill is sent to the PKO mill to be processed into oil (PKO). At present almost 1000 palm oil mills or CPO mills are in Indonesia, a very large number and should be familiar with Indonesian people in general. But apparently there are still many people and even students who do not know the potential of Indonesia.

The palm oil business in Indonesia also contributes quite significantly to the country at around 3% of GDP so that it also receives a lot of support from the government. In addition, the development of palm products is also very open and Indonesia is still underdeveloped, with the indication that the exported products are still dominated with CPO or crude palm oil, while exports should be in the form of downstream products ready for consumption or at least intermediate products so as to provide more added value big for Indonesia. If these conditions can be understood so that various development strategies are carried out both from the upstream sector, namely the plantation sector to the downstream sector, namely the processing industry, the contribution of this business for the country will be even greater. For example the palm oil business in Malaysia has contributed to around 7% of Malaysian GDP.

 If the Indonesian people understand the problem above, it will be easier to find a solution. Insha Allah. Students should be introduced to the palm oil business in Indonesia both from upstream to downstream so that in time it can be expected to map out the problem as well as provide a solution. The strategic palm oil industry in Indonesia should be well introduced to future generations so that their future role in this industry can be continued and added. Environmental-based educational tourism to plantations and palm oil mills as an initial medium to introduce this potential to them.