JAKARTA, March 2 (Reuters) - Indonesia will aim to increase palm oil yields to boost output by 73 percent by 2020, a senior agriculture official said on Friday, and added it may give tax cuts to those complying with a government-backed greens cheme.
Output in the world's top palm oil producer hit 23 million tonnes last year, and better farming techniques rather than land expansion is now key to meeting a 40 million tonne 2020 target, Rusman Heriawan, the deputy agriculture minister told Reuters in an interview ahead of next week's Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference.
"Hopefully by the end of 2020, it is supposed to be 40 million tonnes," Heriawan said. "We will rely heavily on how to increase our productivity, rather than expand the land for palm oil."
"We are a little bit reluctant to extend the land, since there are a lot of disputes ... over claims to land."
Indonesia is seen as a key player in the fight against climate change and is under intense international pressure to curb its rapid deforestation rate and destruction of carbon-rich peatlands.
Facing increasing pressure to improve industry practice and halt deforestation, an Indonesian moratorium on new permits to clear forests took effect in May last year for an initial two years.
Output in the world's top palm oil producer hit 23 million tonnes last year, and better farming techniques rather than land expansion is now key to meeting a 40 million tonne 2020 target, Rusman Heriawan, the deputy agriculture minister told Reuters in an interview ahead of next week's Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference.
"Hopefully by the end of 2020, it is supposed to be 40 million tonnes," Heriawan said. "We will rely heavily on how to increase our productivity, rather than expand the land for palm oil."
"We are a little bit reluctant to extend the land, since there are a lot of disputes ... over claims to land."
Indonesia is seen as a key player in the fight against climate change and is under intense international pressure to curb its rapid deforestation rate and destruction of carbon-rich peatlands.
Facing increasing pressure to improve industry practice and halt deforestation, an Indonesian moratorium on new permits to clear forests took effect in May last year for an initial two years.
In 2012, palm oil estates will sprawl across 8.2 million hectares of Indonesian land, and is expected to rise about 200,000 hectares each year for the next decade.
The Indonesian government is also reviewing the law that requires palm oil plantation firms to set aside 20 percent of land for local small-holders, Heriawan said.
