MARKETING – OPIEJ

Oil Palm in Indonesian Socio-Economic Improvement – A Review of Options

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 05:01:04 +0000

The Indonesian Government has used oil palm as a tool of rural socioeconomic improvement, doing this through nucleus estates operated by estate companies and through assisting individual smallholdings. Over 900 000 ha of high yielding oil palm have been established in 2-3 ha settler blocks in nucleus estate plasma, and 250 000 ha have been planted on individual smallholdings. The initiatives have together raised the incomes of over 500 000 farmers, and may be judged successful market interventions which are far superior to laissez faire. Although the average economic and social performances of both initiatives have been reasonable, their outcomes have been variable. The nucleus estates have sometimes suffered from faulty management, bad community rapport and difficult land conversions, and from the mistakes of government agencies and settler cooperatives. They were discontinued in 2001, due to scarce finance. The assistance to individual smallholdings has always had short funding, limiting its scope. Both initiatives were commenced under the New Order, and face fresh challenges in the present era of democracy and otonomi daerah. The analysis of this paper nonetheless shows that these Indonesian interventions should be continued, albeit more capital being provided and their deficiencies being remedied. It denotes that the interventions compare well with official efforts in other countries, strengthening the general case for public action to assist poor rural dwellers.

Palm Kernel Cake Marketing: Constraints and Prospects

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 04:53:55 +0000

Standardization or product specification is an important measure to ensure that only high quality product reaches the market place. The formation of palm kernel cake (PKC) trade specifications and the requirements of quality testing plus regular inspections had assured the quality of PKC was under control throughout the years. The changing preferences by customers and the advancement of technology validate the revision of such specifications. The study reviews the quality performance of PKC within its trade specifications in the previous years and the possibility of improving its quality to a higher level. Moreover, it reveals the economic significance of elevating the quality of PKC through innovative processing system that produces its raw materials i.e. palm kernel.

Biodiversity, Labelling and Other Issues in the Marketing of GM Products

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 01:36:57 +0000

Palm oil accounts for 21% and 47% of the global oil and fats production and trade respectively. Both Malaysia and Indonesia together are the world’s largest producers and exporters of palm oil with 84% and 90% share of world palm oil production and export, respectively. The paper outlines the increasingly dominant role that palm oil has played in the world oils and fats supply and demand equation during the past 40 years. The ascent of palm oil as a powerhouse in the global oils and fats market has been achieved by leveraging upon the techno-economic advantages of palm oil vis-à-vis competing oils as well as positive developments arising from consumer concerns on health, environment and food security. In efforts to maintain continued market growth, the future direction of the industry relating to improving competitiveness, widening the uses of palm oil, eliminating trade barriers and exploring new innovative marketing approaches will be discussed. These positive developments augur well for palm oil in its role as the driving force of the world oils and fats economy