VATIS UPDATE Article

PT SMART Tbk (SMART), a subsidiary of Golden-Agri Resources Ltd (GAR), Indonesia, has announced its breakthrough in cultivating exceptionally high-yielding oil palm planting material. The planting material was developed in the company’s research centres, SMART Research Institute’s (SMARTRI) and SMART’s Biotechnology Centre, through an advanced biotechnology programme. The new planting materials were developed following two decades of research jointly undertaken by SMARTRI and SMART’s Biotechnology Centre. They were developed naturally through conventional selection programme and tissue culture from elite palms.

These planting materials – Eka 1 and Eka 2 – are registered in Indonesia’s Catalogue of Seeds and were approved for cultivationon 21 April 2017 by the Directorate General of Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture. According to the company, they will enable the company to increase yields to the highest levels in the industry, without increasing land under cultivation.