The Province with the Largest Palm Oil Plantation Area Is Not Necessarily the Most Productive

The province with the largest palm oil plantations is not necessarily the highest in terms of productivity. This is evident from several of Indonesia's main palm oil producing provinces.

According to 2019 data from the Directorate General of Estate Crops (Ditjenbun) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Riau has the largest palm oil plantation area, reaching 2.8 million hectares. However, its land productivity only reaches 3.3 tons per hectare.

This figure is lower than Central Kalimantan, which reaches 4.6 tons per hectare, and North Sumatra, with production reaching 3.8 tons per hectare. Yet, the palm oil plantation areas in these two provinces are 1.7 million hectares and 1.6 million hectares respectively.

The third highest productivity is in South Sumatra, with 3.5 tons per hectare from 1.2 million hectares of plantations. This area is even twice smaller than the palm oil plantation area in Riau.

Meanwhile, the two provinces with the lowest palm oil productivity are East Kalimantan (fifth) and West Kalimantan (sixth), with production of 2.8 tons per hectare and 1.8 tons per hectare respectively. Their palm oil plantation areas reach 1.5 million hectares and 1.8 million hectares respectively.