JAKARTA: Indonesia in 2023 approved the replanting of 53,012 hectares (130,995.5 acres) of palm oil trees on land owned by smallholder farmers under a subsidised programme, data from the country's palm oil funding (BPDPKS) agency showed on Wednesday.

       The size of the replanting increased from 30,759 hectares in 2022, but still fell below Indonesia's annual target. BPDPKS is in charge of distributing subsidies for the replanting of palm oil trees.

       Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, set a target to replant 180,000 hectares of palm trees on smallholders' land every year to boost output without clearing more forest.

       Experts said Indonesia urgently needs to replant its palm oil trees as yields have been falling while demand for the vegetable oil rises, including for biodiesel.

       The smallholders palm replanting scheme was launched in 2016 and initially targeted replacing around 2.5 million hectares of old trees by 2025. Yet only 326,308 hectares have been approved by the end of 2023, and only 205,524 hectares have actually been planted. - Reuters