{"id":7866,"date":"2019-02-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rgei-2.hellopomelo.space\/uncategorized\/asian-agris-hat-trick-a-commitment-a-harvest-an-award\/"},"modified":"2024-06-05T11:54:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T03:54:16","slug":"asian-agris-hat-trick-a-commitment-a-harvest-an-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rgei-2.hellopomelo.space\/id\/uncategorized\/asian-agris-hat-trick-a-commitment-a-harvest-an-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian Agri’s Hat-trick: A Commitment, A Harvest, An Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Asian Agri recently reached a hat-trick of milestones. These were achievements built on years of smallholder engagement and committed public-private partnerships as the company forges ahead as a community-focused, responsible and sustainable palm oil producer.<\/p>\n

A Commitment Surpassed<\/h2>\n

The company\u00a0recently announced<\/a>\u00a0that it not only reached its One-to-One Commitment, but surpassed it. The commitment involves partnering palm oil smallholders – both independent<\/a> and Plasma scheme<\/a> – managing 100,000 hectares of plantation land, matching the 100,000 hectares of owned plantations.<\/p>\n

Asian Agri<\/a>‘s One-to-One Commitment is beyond just numbers. In partnering smallholders, the company raises their agronomic standards while supporting adoption of sustainable practices. Raised productivity, improved market access, increased incomes and enhanced economic resilience are just some of the positive outcomes Asian Agri-partnered smallholders enjoy. Additionally, these smallholders are either\u00a0RSPO-certified<\/a>\u00a0or in the process of attaining certification thanks to support from the company. The company’s 30-plus-year long engagement and partnerships<\/a> with smallholders have also dovetailed well with national plans to intensify existing oil palm plantation lands.<\/p>\n

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Moving forward, the company will continue partnering more independent smallholders to improve standards, improve sustainable practices and improve lives.<\/p>\n

Doubled Yields in First Harvest Since Replanting<\/h2>\n
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The oil palm replanting phase<\/p><\/div>\n

Leveraging on science, technology and decades of private-public collaboration, the company has empowered and improved the lives of its partnered smallholders. In their first harvest since replanting<\/a>, members of the Mulus Rahayu Cooperative<\/a> in Siak, Riau saw yields of 1.5 tonnes per month<\/a>, up from the previous 0.7 tonnes.<\/p>\n

The oil palm replanting programme<\/a> is a national-level endeavour undertaken by the Indonesian government with the support of palm oil companies such as Asian Agri. Smallholder anxieties are generally heightened as they fear their livelihoods would be severely affected towards the end of the oil palm productive period. These are commonly exacerbated by lack of resources, lack of diversity of income-generating skills and options, inadequate knowledge of best agronomic practices, poor access to resilient high-yield seeds and land-clearing equipment, and the lengthy 5-year lull period between replanting and harvest.<\/p>\n

Asian Agri’s over 30-year partnership with the Mulus Rahayu Cooperative has been a model replicated with other smallholder partnerships. The company has consistently engaged and sought feedback on the needs and anxieties of the smallholder community, developing holistic programmes aimed at building resilience in the communities while alleviating anxieties and weathering skepticism on replanting. Some of these programmes include skills diversification for alternate income, assistance in securing bank loans, training in sustainable and best agronomic practices (such as in plantation management, fertilising, and integrated pest management<\/a>), and access to the company’s own high-yielding Topaz seeds.<\/p>\n

The recent yields enjoyed by smallholders of the Mulus Rahayu Cooperative now provide inspirational model for the industry – that long-term partnerships play a critical role in the success of smallholders and the industry.<\/p>\n