Yayasan Gambut Presents Coconut–Coffee…

Pekanbaru, 6 December 2025 — The Faculty of Agriculture, University of Riau, once again held the 3rd National Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture (SENAPELAN) with the theme “Innovation and Collaboration to Improve the Competitiveness of Indonesian Coconuts: Challenges and Opportunities in the Era of Globalization and Climate Change.” The event brought together national experts, academics, researchers, and industry players who have expertise in the field of agriculture and coconut commodities, including a representative of Yayasan Gambut.

Opening and Welcome by the Dean of FP UNRI

Dr. Ahmad Rifai, S.P., M.P., Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at UNRI, delivering remarks

The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Riau, Dr. Ahmad Rifai, S.P., M.P., officially opened the seminar and emphasized that coconuts are an important commodity with great potential for further development through research, innovation, and multi-party collaboration. He stressed the need for synergy between the government, universities, the business world, and the community to strengthen Indonesia's position as the world's largest coconut producer.

Presentation by the Director of Yayasan Gambut

Presentation of materials by Mulyadi, S.P. (Director of Yayasan Gambut)

The presentation session by the speaker was led by Dr. Isna Rahma Dini, S.Pi., M.Si., featuring experts from various fields, including agroforestry, agronomy, to coconut marketing.

Mulyadi, S.P., Director of Yayasan Gambut, presented the Coconut–Coffee Agroforestry Model on Peat Ecosystems as a strategic approach to supporting low-emission agriculture, landscape resilience, as well as improvement of community welfare in peatland areas. He presented the profile of Yayasan Gambut, the main challenges, as well as the social, economic, and environmental benefits of the Agroforestry Coconut-Coffee model.

The Director explained that this agroforestry model combines coconut as the main shade tree and Liberica coffee as an adaptive peat commodity. This system aims to:

Maximize land use without opening new land
Maintain the ecological function of peat while remaining productive
Reduce the risk of land fires and degradation
Realize low-emission agriculture
Provide two sources of income for farmers (coconut and coffee)

It was stated that Liberica coffee is very suitable for peatland because:

Resistant to acidic soil and wet conditions
Has a larger plant and fruit size
Has been proven to be productive on lowland peat

Research Dissemination Session

In addition to the main presentation, SENAPELAN 2025 also held a special session for the presentation of research results related to coconut and sustainable agriculture, with contributions from researchers across different groups, including lecturers, students, teachers, and general researchers.

The seminar was closed with the hope that this activity can become a regular agenda that can bridge science, public policy, and technology implementation in the field, so that it can encourage the development of innovative, competitive, and sustainable national coconut agriculture.