On 16 April, Asian Agri welcomed ambassadors and representatives from the European Union (EU) to its Tungkal Ulu Estate in Jambi, Indonesia. Through a combination of onsite visits and briefings, the company shared how it sustainably manages its oil palm plantations, how it helps to transform the palm oil supply chain to become more traceable, and how it continues to engage its smallholders to adopt best practices.<\/p>\n
The visit was part of the Executive Oil Palm Program initiated by Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the\u00a0Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDPKS), the Jambi Government and Jambi University. The programme was designed to give EU diplomats on-the-ground perspectives of the realities, challenges and milestones of Indonesia\u2019s palm oil industry.\u00a0 Earlier this year, the EU Parliament voted to ban the\u00a0use of palm oil for use in biofuels by 2021 due to concerns that the industry engages in deforestation and other unsustainable practices.<\/p>\n
Asian Agri\u2019s Managing Director Kelvin Tio hosted the visitors at the Tungkal Ulu plantation estate, CPO mill and biogas plant. The group learned how the company adopts best practices in sustainable plantation management<\/a>\u00a0such as conducting soil mapping and surveys, drainability studies and GHG emission monitoring.<\/p>\n Kelvin discussed the company’s Integrated Pest Management approach which aims to reduce the use of chemical substances such as pesticides in its plantations. The company uses owls as well as insects<\/a> to act as natural predators against rats and caterpillars that eat the oil palm fruit.<\/p>\n