Bioeconomy Model for Indonesia Part 3

Essential oil is one of Indonesia's mainstay commodities. There are many essential oils that can be produced in Indonesia because of the tropical climate so that there are so many plants that can grow well in Indonesia. There are around 40 essential oils that can be produced in Indonesia. Essential oils are produced by the leaves, flowers, bark and even atsiri plant roots. Essential oils also vary from grass plants, shrubs to woody trees. This makes these plants can be planted anywhere depending on the condition of the land, and the desired essential oil products. And these essential oil plants are only seasonal plants and annual plants. The use of essential oils is also very broad, namely for perfumes, food, insect controllers and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the market potential of essential oils is also still very open. Cajuput oil is an example of essential oils that are very widely used, but many may not know that cajuput oil includes essential oils. Though cajuput oil can be found in almost every house in Indonesia especially those who have babies or small children. Ten essential oil products produced in Indonesia can be read here.

When compared to palm oil, the production is reported to reach more than 40 million tons / year and occupies an area of ​​12 million hectares, the production of essential oil is much smaller, which is only 5000-6000 tons / year. It is estimated that every year there will be an increase in export of essential oils by 10%. As well as palm oil which can be further processed into various oleochemical products, as well as essential oils, further processing into fine chemicals is very possible. Added value will be large enough if the essential oil is processed into fine chemical or various derivative products. The ironic thing in the essential oil industry in Indonesia is that Indonesia exports crude essential oils, but imports more derivative essential oils, reaching even more than four times, especially perfume products and food flavoring. The condition of the trade deficit should be changed so that the import of downstream products can be reduced gradually and if possible until it does not need to be imported again. After the deficit can be overcome, it can then spur exports even not only crude essential oil but its essential oil derivative products. So it is brief that Indonesia should not only export raw materials, then import finished products even in greater quantities.

The vastness of land available in Indonesia and the size of the market need is an interesting opportunity in the era of bioeconomy in sight. The variety of essential oils and the producing plants also attracts opportunities. Atsiri plantations can be promoted to various regions in Indonesia. The large plantations will also be more attractive by being integrated with large farms. Fertilizer needs for these plantations can be fulfilled from these farms, as well as increasing national meat production which is currently still heavily imported. For more about large plantations and large farms, please read here. One way to be grateful for the blessings of Allah SWT is to make use of unprocessed lands and even barren so that they become productive.

The technology for extracting essential oils is also quite simple by distillation. The distillation equipment is also almost all domestic products so it is relatively cheap. In practice, there are still many refiners that are still simple so that energy consumption is wasteful and the essential oil quality is low due to the use of refining materials below the standard. A number of improvements can certainly be done to further improve the efficiency of essential oil production, for example using an efficient boiler. Biomass waste, which is the material that has been taken by its essential oil, can be used as a distillation fuel of essential oil itself.

Finding The Best Treasure From Energy Plantation Implementation Part 8

"It is He Who has brought down the rain from the sky for you, some of it has become a drink and some of it has grown up, the plants which are in your place of grazing your livestock. "(Qur'an 16:10)

"Eat and graze your animals. Verily in this, there are signs of the power of Allah for those who understand. "(Qur'an, 20:54)

"Muslims are syirkah (sharia business cooperation) to three things, in terms of pasture (land), water and fire (energy)". (HR. Sunan Abu Daud).

After the energy plantation is made for the production of wood pellets, then make sheep (or sheep with cattle) farms to use the leaves from the energy plantation tree or both can be made in parallel. Making sheep farms (or sheep with cattle) can also be an entry point before integration with an energy plantation in time or even a wider bioeconomy model. Farming sheep (or sheep with cattle) by rotating grazing is the best way, because maximizing land use, managing pasture is easier and more planned, and the productivity and quality of meat from livestock are also higher. In rotation grazing, the livestock is rotated in the barren pasture area that has been partitioned. The pasture area used should have a height of about 25-30 cm of grass and left behind when the grass has a height of about 8-10 cm. If the grass is spent (overgrazed) then further growth becomes less optimal and can even die, because it is unable to grow again.

There are at least 4 physical things that need to be considered for making rotating grazing work well, namely: feed supply, fence systems, water supply and shade. Feed supply or grass availability are important factors for the sustainability of the grazing. In the rainy season the grass or certain months will be abundant while the dry season decreases. To adjust to the amount of feed, the livestock population can also be adjusted. When abundant feed the livestock population is more than when feed is reduced. To keep feed more available, pasture can be equipped with a good irrigation system so that the grass can continue to grow even in the dry season.

Fencing systems are also a factor in the success of rotation grazing. The fence system allows planned management of pasture fields. Setting the use of areas for grazing and areas that must be rested so that the grass grows back is the function of the fence system. Furthermore, with the supply of water, obviously this is an important factor because Allah SWT creates something that lives from water (Qur'an 21:30) and every one who lives must need water, especially livestock. Each grazing area (paddock) must be equipped with the water supply. The more food or grass consumed the more water is needed. The lack of water supply will also reduce feed consumption. Cool and non-hot water is preferred by livestock compared to hot water. When a hot day, a place of water in a pond or a certain container will become hot, resulting in reduced water consumption and reduced feed consumption, which in turn will decrease body weight growth. A number of studies have shown that the maximum distance of pasture livestock to a maximum water source is around 250 meters for optimal results.

Shady places are also important for grazing. Farm animals tend to look for shade so they can graze longer. When the weather is hot, farm animals do not last long. The best shade is trees so trees need to be planted in the pasture area. Fruit trees are one of the interesting choices for that. Each paddock area can be planted with one type of fruit tree, for example one paddock for durian trees, the other paddock for rambutan, the other for date palm trees, mango, guava, olive and so on. Temperatures in Indonesia with a tropical climate are also higher than in subtropical regions, namely daytime on average reaching 25 C while in subtropical regions only 10 C. This shows that the best location is grazing is grassland with shady trees among them. The amount of rainfall like in Indonesia makes large fast and fruiting trees so that they can be quickly used for shade.

One of the most frequently asked questions for farmers who want to start rotation grazing is how many paddocks must be made? Basically, the more paddocks, the better because the pasture can be utilized to source livestock feed maximally. In general, you can start with 5 to 10 paddock with each paddock for grazing 3 to 7 days later rest for 25-30 days. Of almost all rotational grazing practices, the number of 4 paddocks is the minimum amount when starting. The square shape is the best form for the paddock, so that it is as close as possible to the shape. The shape of the small paddock extends or circles is not good because it is more difficult to achieve the results of the utilization of grass that is evenly distributed by livestock. For determining the pasture area as well as the distribution it will be better at the initial stage to do it with aerial photography.

Bioeconomy Model for Indonesia

When Europe targets their bioeconomy it can move the economic sector of € 2 trillion (34,000 trillion rupiahs or 17 times the Indonesian state budget) by absorbing 20 million workers and more specifically the Netherlands which is about the size of East Java targeting € 2.6-3 billion (around 50 trillion rupiah) with their bioeconomy program, Indonesia as a tropical country, vast and fertile land should be able to boost its economy as well as bioeconomy. The bioeconomy approach and model developed by Indonesia could be different from what is done in Europe and in the Netherlands, because its natural potential and the characteristics of its population are also not the same. With a majority Muslim population Indonesia should develop many bioeconomy models that are in line with Islamic values. This is because bioeconomy will also be related to food and clothing issues which in Islam are very clearly related to halal haram issues. Not only that, of course the model is also optimized so that it can bring as much as possible the prosperity of the people and provide solutions to a number of major problems faced. Islamic economics that has not become mainstream in a majority Islamic country is one of the big problems today. By doing a lot of syirkah and waqf a number of big opportunities in the bioeconomy era can be easily captured and optimized.

With a tropical climate, vast land, fertile and high rainfall, the development of energy plantations for the production of wood pellets, sheep farming, honey bee farming and charcoal production with pyrolysis is one of the bioeconomy models that can be developed. Pyrolysis, besides producing charcoal, also produces syngas which can be converted into electricity. Electricity is useful to run the pyrolysis unit and also the production of wood pellets. Palm oil mill wastes such as oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) and oil palm plantation wastes namely fronds can be used for the pyrolysis raw material. Municipal waste can also be used as raw material for pyrolysis. If not, some or part of the wood from the energy plantation can be used for the raw material of the pyrolysis. Other products from pyrolysis are charcoal, biooil and pyroligneous acid (liquid smoke). All of these products have high economic value and can be upgraded to become a number of derivative products. How long the industry chain also depends on the economics value of the industry. The longer the industrial chain should give greater added value and a large contribution to bioeconomy.

How can to realize the bioeconomy of the model above? Of course it's a big job to realize the bioeconmy model because it integrates several units so that it becomes a closed cycle. Entry points can be started from one business unit that is easier to do. Sheep grazing or sheep and cattle grazing (mixed grazing) can be the easiest entry point, because for Muslims it is also supportive for the establishment of syariat Islam, namely syariat qurban every 10 Dzulhijah. It also means that it will increase domestic meat production. Rotation grazing is an effective and efficient grazing pattern, especially compared to traditional grazing patterns, namely continuous grazing. After the pasture, followed by the production of wood pellets from the energy plantation, the waste of the leaves which is also rich in protein will also be an additional food for the livestock. Livestock manure from the cage can be used for fertilizer in the energy plantation, while the pasture itself has received fertilizer when grazing is carried out in the area. The last is integrating pyrolysis units whose main purpose is for electricity production to meet the operations of the wood pellet factory. Industrial chain can be developed longer by using raw materials (feedstock) from the by-products of the pyrolysis process.

When this model can be made and proven to provide great benefits, then the model is then multiplied and enlarged. When the touch screen hand phone was first introduced, many people were skeptical and ridiculed the concept to be used en masse, but today most cell phones and gadgets use the touch screen to operate it. People are attracted and flock to be follower when they see evidence. But who wants to be a pioneer and give evidence to those people? Only very few people want and are able to do it. Steve Jobs, shows that Apple's touch screen phones can be reliably used and provide evidence for people. Steve Jobs's famous expression is "People don't know what they want until you show it to them!"

Palm Oil Plantation

Examples in the world of plantations will be closer to the bioeconomy model. When the Dutch brought four palm oil seeds and grew into oil palm trees, then small plantations were made, then it became more widespread because many were copied and developed into many places. This condition occurs because the business can prove to provide attractive benefits. Likewise with the development of bioeconomy. Increasingly proven to provide better profit and benefits, it is certainly more attractive to be applied and developed to many locations, not only in Indonesia but also in Malaysia and especially other Muslim countries.