33
INDOFOOD AGRI RESOURCES LTD
ANNUAL REPORT 2014
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Pest and disease control is aided by the use of biological
control agents such as barn owls. In the Riau estates, our
barn owl programme has been so successful that the use
of rodenticide has been completely abolished since 2011.
Each year, we breed about 10,000 new birds via some 2,600
next boxes scattered throughout the Riau estates. In South
Sumatra, around 2,100 new birds were bred in 2014.
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Research methodologies are applied to derive operational
solutions. As such, the R&D team makes frequent
plantation visits to understand and manage current
agronomy issues in collaboration with the operations
team, impart valuable skills, knowledge and inputs to
estate personnel, and conduct training on the latest
intervention methodologies.
The R&D teams are also involved in product development. For
instance, we develop specific formulations of edible oils and
fats to meet the diverse requirements of our industrial and
retail consumers.
2014 REVIEW
The Group’s seed production was partly allocated to our own
planting activities, which require about 200 seeds per hectare,
while the majority is sold to external parties. During the year in
review, the Group replanted 600 hectares and completed new
plantings for 6,350 hectares. As a result of a slowdown in new
plantings in Indonesia, sales volume of oil palm seeds fell from
17.9 million to 9.2 million seeds in 2014.
The planting of trees along our estates’ main roads was stepped
up in 2014 to promote the population of natural predators
such as barn owls to reduce pesticide use. We cultivated
entomopathogenic agents of viral origin, which were sprayed
across all estates to control major leaf
-
eating caterpillars.
We also used ultraviolet (UV) light traps as an environmental
-
friendly complement to our biological
-
control methods against
these caterpillars. The integration of monthly census data
into our SAP has significantly improved the spatio
-
temporal
visibility of all kinds of pest attacks throughout our estates on
a per
-
hectare basis.
Responsiveness to agronomic issues has improved with the
introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles such as fixed
-
wing
and drone quad
-
copters, coupled with existing satellite
photography. Together with our GIS, these devices provide
timely and reliable information on crop conditions such as
nutrient status, pest and disease attack prevalence, and
the drainage characteristics of the soil in our estates. This
has allowed us to proactively prevent potential agronomic
issues and improve overall deployment of resource and
manpower.
New products catering to the evolving needs of our
customers were developed through R&D. These included
high
-
quality cooking oils and specialty fats required by
premium bakeries and confectioneries. We also invested in
technology to design cost
-
efficient packaging materials that
are eco
-
friendly.
In a move to manage the risks posed by counterfeit seed
distributors, SumBio now authenticates and tags its seed
products using UV printing rather than inkjet
-
printed labels.
2015 OUTLOOK
The Group will pursue ongoing trials to develop new
genotypes of premium, high
-
yielding seeds, in anticipation
of demand growth driven by factors such as affluence, rising
populations, as well as new planting activities planned
for 2015.
To preserve biodiversity in our estates, the use of bio
-
control
methods against major pests will be intensified. Using the
newly developed topographic maps, we expect to achieve
better agronomic practices through effective soil and water
management programmes in our South Sumatra estates. To
drive productivity, we will further streamline existing work
processes and move towards greater mechanisation.
Leveraging our integrated SAP enterprise resource planning
system, we will achieve better visibility of the field data across
all subsidiaries, refineries and plantations on a real
-
time
basis. We plan to explore the use of data analytics alongside
statistical and census methods to improve yields and achieve
more accurate yield forecasts.
Site
-
specific fertiliser recommendations to produce the
maximum economic crop response will be made possible with
detailed soil fertility mapping based on the physico
-
chemical
properties across different breeding environments.
OtherR&D
-
driven improvementswill includediseasemanagement
and precision agronomy, via improved crop management
strategies, planting densities, fertiliser and herbicide usage.
Such initiatives will deliver higher and more profitable yields
per hectare, reduce production costs and maintain a balanced
nutrient programme for sustainable growth.
