Palm Oil Replanting Movement and Utilization of Biomass Waste

Palm oil trees begin to lose productivity after 20 years and need to be replaced after 25 years, while new trees take about four years to begin bearing fruit. This generally renders the land unproductive during this four-year period, which discourages farmers from replanting their palm oil. However, intercropping during this period can still provide benefits for farmers. Planting short-term crops like upland rice and corn alongside palm oils can help farmers earn additional income while the palm oils bear fruit and mature.

In 2024, Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer, began implementing land intensification due to limited land area, only replanting 2%, or approximately 114,000 hectares. This is despite the country's target of replanting 5% of its land. The situation in Indonesia is not much different, with replanting predicted to be less than 2%. For example, if only 1.5%, or approximately 246,000 hectares, are replanted, it would be disproportionate to the area of ​​its oil palm plantations, which is nearly three times Malaysia's. Furthermore, replanting should be carried out periodically every year to achieve optimal palm oil production performance.

The reluctance or slow pace of replanting has led to a decline in national crude palm oil (CPO) production. Malaysian palm oil production has even stagnated for more than a decade due to limited land for new plantations and slow replanting. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, concerns about deforestation have also impacted the expansion of new oil palm plantations. Crude palm oil (CPO) production will decline further if labor shortages and the spread of ganoderma fungus reduce yields.

Given the above conditions, the replanting of palm oil plantations must be encouraged to maintain or even increase palm oil production. The issue of biomass waste from palm oil trees, which cover thousands of hectares, also poses a challenge. With such a large volume of old palm oil trees, utilizing them for value-added products is crucial. With an average hectare of palm oil plantations containing 125 trees, each tree yielding an average dry weight of 2 tons, this yields 250 tons of dry weight of biomass per hectare. For 10,000 hectares, this yields 2.5 million tons of dry weight, and for 100,000 hectares, this yields 25 million tons of dry weight. An optimistic estimate would be that Indonesia could replant 5% of its land, or 820,000 hectares, for 205 million tons of dry weight of biomass. Similarly, Malaysia, with 5% replanting, or 285,000 hectares, would yield 71.25 million tons of dry weight.

Business readiness factors, both in terms of technology and the market or user base for the product, need to be carefully assessed. With such a large volume, biomass processing plants or industries can be established and operate optimally without worrying about raw material shortages. Products such as pellets, briquettes, and biochar are made from waste biomass from old palm oil trunks. Dead old palm oil trunks, often left abandoned on land, should be utilized to produce these useful, value-added products.