Indonesian President Joko Widodo plans to replant at least 500,000ha of palm oil plantations within the next three years to intensify production of the commodity, according to Antara News.
"For the last two years, we have replanted a large number of small privately-owned palm oil plantations," the president said on 23 December.
Funding for replanting would come from the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund, which would allocate Rp20 trillion (US$1.4bn) for the programme, Antara News wrote.
Widodo also said that palm oil production per hectare had to be double to increase yields.
"If the yield now is nearly four tonnes per hectare, we must find a solution to produce at least seven to eight tonne per hectare," he said.
Widodo was speaking at the official launch of B30 biodiesel at a gas station in Jakarta.
Indonesia was introducing the increased blend in a bid to increase the use of palm oil and save US$4.8bn in foreign exchange spending in 2020, Antara News said.
