At 31 December 2010, the REA group held agricultural land allocations in East Kalimantan totalling 94,763 hectares of which 63,263 hectares were fully titled.
The land allocations comprise a core area lying either side of the Belayan river together with satellite areas located within reasonable proximity of the core area. Areas planted with oil palms or in course of development amounted to 32,000 hectares of which 22,000 hectares were mature. A further 3,450 hectares were classified as mature at the start of 2011.
Seedling nursery
Reserve land held by the REA group only becomes available for development when the titling process has proceeded to a point at which the group has been granted development and necessary land clearing licences, and compensation agreements have been reached with local villagers who have claims in respect of their previous use of the land. The group has set a target for development of new oil palm plantings of 8,000 hectares for the two year period ending 31 December 2011 but whether this target is actually achieved will be critically dependent upon land becoming available for development as needed.
All new plantings are grown from specially selected seed bought from third party suppliers able to provide material with well established yield potential. Seed is initially planted out in polythene bags in nurseries where it grows into seedlings suitable for planting over a period of nine to twelve months.
Immature areas
New areas designated for planting undergo several months of preparation during which roads and bridges are established and a legume cover crop is planted. Seedlings are then transported to the prepared areas and planted out in a triangular pattern of 143 palms per hectare. In hillier areas, seedlings are planted on terraces. Young palms grow for about 30 months after field planting before starting to produce fruit.
The group intends to continue its expansion after 2011 and aims over time to plant with oil palms all suitable undeveloped land available to the group (other than areas set aside by the group for conservation).