Human Resource Development through Educational Scholarships Becomes Key to Palm Oil Industry Sustainability
Director Executive of the Palm Oil Agribusiness Strategic Policy Institute (PASPI), Tungkot Sipayung, stated that human resource (HR) development must be capable of addressing the increasingly complex challenges in the palm oil industry. HR development must also play an active role in creating a sustainable palm oil industry system.
Tungkot Sipayung emphasised that palm oil HR development needs to encompass aspects of quality, diversity of skills, and adequate availability of workforce.
“Besides improving the quality of current HR, such development must be able to meet the future needs of the palm oil industry,” said Tungkot in his statement in Jakarta on Saturday (28/3/2026).
Tungkot expressed that the Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) has a strategic role in HR development through the provision of undergraduate educational scholarships for children of palm oil farmers in various fields of expertise. This palm oil HR development is managed by BPDP together with the Directorate General of Plantations of the Ministry of Agriculture.
“Since its establishment, BPDP has prepared palm oil industry HR through the provision of undergraduate educational scholarships for children of palm oil farmers. This programme is a form of reinvestment of export levy funds,” he said.
He encouraged BPDP to expand the palm oil HR development programme to address the increasingly complex needs of the industry. Based on 2025 data, 13,265 participants have received scholarships for palm oil industry HR development at various universities. Additionally, the technical training programme has reached around 32,152 palm oil farmers.
For 2026, BPDP targets a quota of 5,000 new students for scholarships with a focus on strengthening competencies in the technical and technological fields of plantations.
“Indeed, compared to the needs for improving and preparing the palm oil industry HR required, what BPDP has done still needs to be expanded in the future,” he stressed.
He hopes that BPDP can produce a quality and competitive generation of palm oil professionals. To strengthen global competitiveness, he added, the quality of national palm oil industry HR must be able to surpass competing countries such as Malaysia.
“This is the biggest challenge in our palm oil industry HR. How to reinvest palm oil funds to build and prepare superior palm oil HR that exceeds our competing countries and even other industries,” he concluded.