Reviewing Oil Palm Agroforestry Research – Group Activity
Oil Palm Agroforestry – Target Period Strategy
Land tenure conflicts often occur due to people’s need for wider land to increase production and income[15]. Also, forest areas have been transformed to oil palm plantations. Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry Republic of Indonesia No. 09/2021 on Social Forestry Management target monoculture oil palm plantations within forest areas through the Target Period (Jangka Benah). It is a period to improve the structure and function of forest ecosystems that are decreased due to the expansion of monoculture oil palm plantations into forest areas. One way is through agroforestry.
In fact, oil palm agroforestry has been practiced by a small number of farmers in Jambi, with a limited number of trees. Some farmers deliberately do not cut down fruit crops such as durian during land clearing, so that they can still be harvested every year[16] . Oil palm agroforestry can also reduce the risk of uncertainty of fluctuations in oil palm prices[17]. Based on research regarding financial analysis, it can be stated that oil palm agroforestry is worth working on. This is based on the criteria for Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) as presented in the table below (see glossary for explanation of terms)[14][16].
However, in the study in Hutan Harapan in Jambi by Rahmani et al.[14], the community has not been willing to apply agroforestry. This is due to people's assumptions and perceptions that oil palm cannot be sided or mixed with other crops and that limited capital to buy tree seedlings prevent agroforestry. The existence of oil palm agroforestry in a demonstration plot is perceived to not growing well due to lack of maintenance so that oil palm agroforestry in the Hutan Harapan is not socially feasible yet.
