Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.

Today's Headlines Agriculture

  • Net Profit of Crude Palm Oil Producer BW Plantation Falls 18.17 Percent in 2012

    BW Plantation (BWPT), a mid-sized crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernels (PK) producer, felt the impact of weak global demand for commodities in 2012. The company's net profit in 2012 fell 18.17 percent to IDR 262.18 billion (US $26.89 million). Profit per share fell to IDR 64,83 from IDR 79,35 per share last year. The decline in profit was particularly caused by an increase in operating expenses from IDR 131.05 billion (US $13.44 million) to IDR 153.87 billion (US $15.78 million).

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Latest Columns Agriculture

  • Investing in Precision Agriculture for Sustainable Development

    Investing in Precision Agriculture for Sustainable Development

    In our current reality, where climate change intersects with an ever-increasing demand for food, the concept of precision farming cannot be ignored. It’s exactly what helps harmonize the surge in agricultural output with the imperative of nature preservation. In this piece we will delve deeper into why investing in this innovative approach is not just important, but essential. Especially when implementing precision methods becomes much easier with the geospatial data analytics market providing more and more solutions catering to both small farmers and large agricultural enterprises.

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  • Commodity Watch Indonesia: Tea Production, Export Under Pressure

    Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry is optimistic that the nation's tea production can reach 140,234 tons in full-year 2018, up modestly (+0.6 percent) compared to tea production in the preceding year (139,362 tons). Rising tea output is targeted to come on the back of the government's efforts to encourage the optimization of tea productivity. Key strategy is to make more efficient use of the tea plantations. Currently, there are many empty spots in these plantations. By planting new trees on these empty spots, tea production could to rise.

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  • Commodity Watch Indonesia: Coffee Production Under Pressure

    Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry expects the nation's coffee production to reach 674,636 tons in 2018, up a modest 0.9 percent year-on-year (y/y) from Indonesia's coffee production in 2017 (668,677 tons). If the ministry's estimate is correct, then it would be the second straight year of meager coffee production growth. From 2016 (when Indonesia produced a total of 663,871 tons) to 2017, growth of coffee production reached 0.7 percent (y/y).

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  • Tropical Fruits of Indonesia: Durian, the "King of Fruits"

    The climate of Indonesia is well-suited for growing various sorts of (tropical) fruit. According to information from Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry, there are 60 types of fruit that have the potential to grow in Indonesia. One of these fruits is the durian. The durian fruit, native to Southeast Asia, is regarded the "king of fruits" due to its distinctive (large) shape and rich flavor (although some dislike the taste). Durian is also known as being the smelliest fruit in the world due to its distinctive (read: awful) smell.

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  • Indonesia's Partnerships with Denmark & the United Kingdom

    Indonesia's Agriculture Minister signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Denmark for investment into Indonesia's corn and sugar plantations as well as the cattle industry. Based on the words of Indonesian Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman it involves total Danish investment of at least IDR 2 trillion (approx. USD $152 million) for a period of five years. The deal involves the transfer of Danish agricultural technology, while Indonesia's part of the deal is to provide two million hectares of land. Meanwhile, Indonesia also plans to reaffirm its partnership with the UK in the creative economy industry.

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  • Horticulture Sector Indonesia: Flexible toward Foreign Ownership Cap

    The Indonesian government's decision to limit foreign ownership in the horticulture sector to a maximum of 30 percent (through Law No. 13/2010 on Horticulture), from 95 percent previously, continues to cause a polemic as such protectionism may be a big disadvantage to the development of Indonesia's horticulture sector. Moreover, the law works retroactively implying that existing companies owned by foreign investors need to divest their majority ownership interests. In Law No. 13/2010 foreigners were given four years to divest their shares.

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  • Corn Production & Consumption in Indonesia: Aiming for Self-Sufficiency

    Corn is among the four strategic commodities that receive special attention in the blueprint of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The AEC’s food blueprint aims to enhance food security & sovereignty of corn, rice, soybeans and cassava in the ASEAN region. Indonesia is currently the region’s largest corn producer. However, Indonesian corn consumption continues to outpace domestic corn production, resulting in a deficit. This column provides an overview of Indonesia’s corn sector in the context of the AEC.

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  • Agriculture in Indonesia: Update on Rice and Coffee Production

    Indonesia’s Agriculture Ministry estimates that Indonesia’s rice harvest will not be severely affected by the El Niño weather phenomenon this year. The Ministry expects to see a rice production of at least 70 million tons of unmilled rice in 2014, just 1.9 percent down from the 71.3 million tons of rice that was produced last year. Meanwhile, Indonesia may see a record coffee harvest in 2015 as recent rainfall in the important coffee-producing regions have supported the development of cherries.

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  • Indonesia Vulnerable to Land Disputes as Few Plantation Estate is Registered

    The plantation sector of Indonesia is vulnerable to land disputes. Noor Marzuki, a Director at the National Land Agency (Badan Pertanahan Nasional, or BPN), a non-departmental government institution, said that currently only 30 percent of Indonesia's total plantation estate area has been registered at the BPN. This implies that 70 percent of Indonesian plantation estates are unregistered and thus susceptible to land conflicts. The total size of Indonesia's plantation estate area is 120 million hectares.

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  • Jakarta Composite Index Ends on a Positive Note Despite Uncertainty

    The Jakarta Composite Index (Indonesia's benchmark stock index which is also known as the IHSG) gained 0.53 percent on Friday (29/11) and ended on 4,256.43 points. Today's trading day was relatively quiet with a transaction value of only IDR 3.30 trillion (USD $276.50 million). Foreign net buying of Indonesian shares supported the IHSG index to end this month's last trading day on a positive note. Sectors that performed well were agriculture (+2.18 percent), construction (+1.27 percent), and mining (+0.99 percent).

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