Innovation

Oil Palm-Cattle Integration at Scale

Another key innovation that we implemented to optimize our asset productivity is the integration between palm oil plantation and cattle farming through a combined use of land. This Oil Palm-Cattle Integration program significantly reduces the costs of oil palm herbicide and fertilizer, while also cutting down cattle feed costs. In addition to these operational efficiency, the Oil Palm-Cattle Integration program also creates an alternative revenue stream for the company.

The program applies a rotational grazing method to groups of 200 cattle inside SSMS’s palm oil plantations. The cattle will graze on unwanted vegetation and then led by herders to another area once the plants become scarce. The cattle will return to the same area after 60 days and the rotation continues up until the cattle group is removed for breeding or sold. Currently, SSMS has around 5,383 cattle rotating inside its plantations, which normally require up to 4,500 hectares of pasture.

Sulung Research Station

Sulung Research Station (SRS) is SSMS’s think tank based in Pangkalan Bun. It focuses on optimizing palm oil yield through a variety of agricultural best practices. 

Thanks to this rigorous research and development arm, SSMS is able to implement innovative solutions throughout its operations to ensure a sustainably profitable business. SRS provides its services not only to SSMS, but also to external customers including agricultural companies and smallholders, thus creating an alternative revenue stream for the company. 

Some of the services SRS offers are agricultural consultation, aerial observation, as well as research and development. Its expertise spans the entire palm oil value chain, from oil palm growing, harvesting, processing, up to waste management. SRS, in its role advising large and small oil palm growers alike, encourages efficient agricultural practice that produces high yield with reduced energy consumption, optimum use of resources, and minimum impact on the environment. In this sense, SRS contributes not only to the Profit pillar but also to the People and Planet pillars. 

SRS’s laboratory utilizes cutting-edge instruments that are calibrated annually by credible institutions such as Mutu Agung Lestari Calibration Laboratory to maintain reliable test results. In addition, SRS research practices has been audited by National Committee for Accreditation (KAN) while proficiency test and interlaboratory comparison were conducted by Netherland’s Wageningen University to ensure globally-accepted standards are implemented.