SUMMARY

SRI NOVIYANTI. Mechanization System Of Oil Palm Plantations At

Palm Oil Research Park Of Sriwijaya University, (Supervised by EDWARD
SALEH).
One aspect that needs special attention in supporting the development of oil
palm cultivation is the management of oil palm cultivation tools and machines.
The factor of tool and machine management plays an important role in
determining the success of oil palm planting. The availability of tools and
machines that support each process in oil palm cultivation affects the high yield.
The purpose of this field practice is to find out the application of agricultural
mechanization in the cultivation of oil palm in the Sriwijaya University oil palm
research garden. Field practice was carried out at Sriwijaya University's oil palm
research garden on August 1 to 30, 2018. The method used was literature study,
direct observation and field practice. Comparing agricultural mechanization data
in oil palm plantations with field practices that have been carried out in the
Sriwijaya University oil palm research garden, determining the problems that
arise after comparisons and providing suggestions for existing problems. The
development of increasingly sophisticated technology makes many oil palm
farmers switch to using mechanization in order to increase the productivity and
quality of their palm oil crops. Amid the difficulty of obtaining land and lack of
quality human resources, mechanization should be carried out optimally.
Unfortunately, the implementation has only been carried out by large-scale palm
oil companies. Some jobs in oil palm plantations such as fertilization, harvesting
and excavation for irrigation and land applications, are often still done manually.
In fact, the manual processing process tends to take longer and the quality of the
results is sometimes less satisfying. The overload obtained from manual
processing, among others; requires large costs, difficulty in monitoring, low
productivity of work, lack of labor when harvesting and so on. This was also the
case in the oil palm research garden at Sriwijaya University which still harvests
manually. Therefore, a mechanization system needs to be implemented in order to
optimize oil palm cultivation work (land clearing, processing, maintenance, and
harvesting), streamlining harvest time (especially the transport process),
maintaining the quality and quality of oil palm fruit bunches and increasing oil
palm yields .

Keywords: agricultural mechanization, oil palm.

1 Universitas Sriwijaya
 2

RINGKASAN

SRI NOVIYANTI. Sistem Mekanisasi Pada Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit Di

Kebun Penelitian Kelapa Sawit Universitas Sriwijaya, (Dibimbing oleh
EDWARD SALEH).
Salah satu aspek yang perlu mendapatkan perhatian secara khusus dalam
menunjang program pengembangan budidaya tanaman kelapa sawit adalah
manajemen alat dan mesin budidaya kelapa sawit. Faktor manajemen alat dan
mesin berperan penting dalam menentukan keberhasilan penanaman kelapa sawit.
Tersedianya alat dan mesin yang menunjang setiap proses dalam budidaya kelapa
sawit mempengaruhi tingginya produksi hasil. Adapun tujuan praktek lapangan
ini adalah untuk mengetahui penerapan mekanisasi pertanian dalam budidaya
kelapa sawit di kebun penelitian kelapa sawit Universitas Sriwijaya. Praktek
lapangan dilakukan di kebun penelitian kelapa sawit Universitas Sriwijaya pada
tanggal 1 sampai 30 Agustus 2018. Metode yang digunakan adalah studi pustaka,
pengamatan langsung dan praktek lapangan. Melakukan perbandingan data
mekanisasi pertanian di kebun kelapa sawit dengan praktek lapangan yang sudah
dilaksanakan di kebun penelitian kelapa sawit Universitas Sriwijaya, menentukan
masalah yang timbul setelah dilakukan perbandingan dan memberikan saran
untuk masalah yang ada. Perkembangan teknologi yang semakin canggih
membuat para petani kelapa sawit banyak beralih menggunakan mekanisasi demi
meningkatkan produktivitas dan mutu dari hasil panen kelapa sawitnya. Ditengah
kesulitan mendapatkan lahan dan minimnya sumber daya manusia berkualitas,
mekanisasi sebaiknya dilakukan secara maksimal. Namun, implementasinya baru
dijalankan perusahaan sawit skala besar. Beberapa pekerjaan di perkebunan
kelapa sawit seperti pemupukan, pemanenan dan pengangkutan tandan buah
segar, sering kali masih dilakukan secara manual. Padahal, proses pengerjaan
manual cenderung membutuhkan waktu lebih panjang dan kualitas hasil yang
terkadang kurang memuaskan. Kelebihan beban yang didapat dari pengerjaan
manual, antara lain; membutuhkan biaya besar, kesukaran pengawasan,
produktivitas hasil kerja yang rendah, minimnya tenaga kerja ketika panen raya
dan sebagainya. Hal tersebut juga terjadi pada kebun penelitian kelapa sawit di
Universitas Sriwijaya yang masih melakukan kegiatan pemanenan secara manual.
Oleh karena itu, sistem mekanisasi perlu diterapkan agar dapat mengoptimalkan
pekerjaan budidaya kelapa sawit (pembukaan lahan, pengolahan, perawatan,
maupun pemanenan), mengefesienkan waktu pemanenan (terutama proses
pengangkutan), menjaga mutu dan kualitas tandan buah kelapa sawit dan
meningkatkan hasil panen kelapa sawit.

Kata kunci: mekanisasi pertanian, kelapa sawit.

Sriwijaya