When Machines Meet Plantations: Digital Technologies and Multispecies Sustainability

  • 10/07/2025
  • Category: Commentaries
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agrotechnology

Author: Gilang Mahadika
Email: gilangmahadika@mail.ugm.ac.id
Editor: Ayom Mratita Purbandani

 

The global spread of monocultures, such as oil palm, tea, coffee, sugarcane, and soy plantations, is a clear example of how this farming model is intolerant of biodiversity. These plantations are designed primarily for human benefit, prioritizing human needs above those of non-human species.[1] Numerous studies by anthropologists and ecologists have revealed the consequences of living in the Anthropocene, a period increasingly characterized by what some call the Plantationocene.[2] This era is defined by socio-ecological systems that promote large-scale monoculture plantations, often at the expense of biodiversity. Jason Moore argues that continued reliance on such plantations fuels unsustainable economic growth, largely because of their exploitative relationship with the soil.[3] He warns that industrial plantations leave the earth exhausted, scorched, and broken. From this perspective, monocultures not only threaten biodiversity but also degrade our landscapes, making them “sick”[4] and unsustainable. This realization compels us to rethink how we can preserve the Earth in more sustainable and inclusive ways.

The development of digital technology today has proven its potential in helping minimize ecological crises. On December 18, 2018, the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) launched a digital technology innovation for oil palm plantations called the Precision Agriculture Platform for Palm Oil (Precipalm) at the IPB International Convention Center (IICC).[5] Precipalm is a system designed to support fertilizer decision-making for oil palm cultivation based on precision agriculture. This digital technology integrates satellite, radar, and drone technologies to generate fertilizer recommendations for specific oil palm plantation areas. Precipalm also provides information on the nutritional status of oil palm trees, such as levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg), enabling more effective and efficient fertilization.[6] With this technology, fertilizer application becomes more precise, neither excessive nor deficient, thereby reducing potential environmental impacts.

Another example of digital technological innovation is the Electronic Plantation System (EPS), developed by corporate digital plantation companies such as PT Ekomoditi Solutions Indonesia. The company has designed the Electronic Plantation Control System (ePCS), a software platform that integrates various plantation tasks and responsibilities into a single digital application. This system manages activities such as recording the attendance of oil palm workers, fertilization, nurseries, harvesting, and weighing oil palm fruits, all within one centralized platform.[7] Through the digitalization of these operations, the company’s work processes become more accurate, efficient, and potentially more sustainable. In addition, digital technologies based on geospatial data and artificial intelligence, commonly referred to as Geo-Spatial Artificial Intelligence (Geo-AI), have also been developed in collaboration with public institutions, such as Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). Some private companies are becoming increasingly interested in adopting such technologies. For example, PT SMART Tbk. (Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology) visited the Faculty of Geography at UGM to explore the application of Geo-AI in their operations.[8] Geo-AI technology can help detect pests and pathogens, as well as identify potential fire risks within plantations. These developments demonstrate how digital technology can play a vital role in supporting the sustainability of plantation practices.

Technology for Whom? Sustainability in the Shadows of Monoculture

We have begun to recognize the importance of living alongside other living beings. This means that digitalization attempts in plantations should not be aimed solely at achieving efficiency, but also at promoting environmental sustainability. From these technological innovations, we learn that technology is never separate from the socio-cultural context and the needs of both smallholder farmers and palm oil companies in maintaining their plantations. Therefore, the development of digital technology must be understood within its historical, ecological, and relational context. In this view, technology is not detached from social and environmental relations. Nevertheless, these technological innovations still face their own challenges. Both in terms of the development of the technology itself and in how it can eventually be applied or implemented not only by large companies but also by smallholder farmers across Indonesia.

Despite the advancements in digital technology, it has become evident that these innovations still fall short of fully addressing the environmental problems within plantations. Most of these technologies are primarily focused on the production aspect of oil palm cultivation, aiming for efficiency and sustainability. In this sense, they are designed to manage and control a single species only, the oil palm tree, to maximize its growth and productivity. Donna Haraway refers to this as technobiopolitics,[9] a mode of managing life through technology. Technobiopolitics shows how technological systems are used to discipline and govern life in order to meet economic, political, and human-centered industrial goals. From this perspective, technologies, such as Geo-AI, Precipalm, and EPS, appear to center exclusively on oil palm trees, while ignoring other species that inhabit and struggle to survive within the expansive monoculture landscapes. As a result, the concept of “sustainability” becomes narrowly understood as plantation sustainability, rather than biodiverse or multispecies sustainability. This selective prioritization has given rise to what Sophie Chao describes as multispecies politics,[10] where species that support plantation productivity are privileged and acknowledged, while those that do not are marginalized or made unseen.

Meanwhile, smallholder farmers from indigenous communities have long practiced agroforestry systems, as I observed among the Dayak Benuaq people in East Kalimantan.[11] Unlike monocultures, agroforestry does not prioritize a single crop. Instead, it embraces a diversity of plants, such as rubber, oil palm, fruit-bearing trees, and timber species. These agroforestry landscapes also serve as refugia for more-than-human species, including endemic species, particularly primates, who seek food there, especially during fruiting seasons.[12]

The increasing presence of primates in forest gardens, or simpukng, owned by the Dayak Benuaq has at times overwhelmed the community, as the animals often damage their food crops. This issue is further complicated by government regulations that now prohibit them from keeping or hunting these animals, as they are protected under conservation law.[13] In the past, when forests were still vast, interactions between humans and animals occurred more freely and were considered a natural part of everyday life. Today, however, transformations in the ecological landscape have forced the state to reconfigure human–wildlife relations. This situation reflects how forests in Kalimantan have continued to shrink over time due to the expansion of monoculture plantations. Therefore, digital technological innovations must also learn from and adapt to indigenous ecological knowledge and systems in order to support biodiversity within plantations.

In addition, digital technology requires adequate infrastructure, such as electricity to connect smalholders to the internet and satellite imagery. However, many smallholders from indigenous communities often live far from well-established infrastructure, such as in urban centers. They reside in remote areas that are largely beyond the reach of government services and administrations. As a result, they face significant barriers in accessing advanced digital technologies. For example, the Dayak Benuaq are often described as an upriver community or masyarakat hulu, as they live far from Samarinda or other downstream regions. They are frequently stigmatized as isolated or backward, portrayed as disconnected from modernity and technological progress. Nevertheless, smallholder farmers make significant contributions to global commodity chains.[14] It would therefore be both valuable and interesting to explore how digital technologies might engage with indigenous smallholders in meaningful and inclusive ways.

Elaine Gan, during her conversation with Bettina Stoetzer and Caroline Picard, she once throwed questions and reflexive opinions, “What is technology? What is the technosphere? How do we think about the disconnections that come about because of human-made infrastructures? Also not to forget that technologies come out of multispecies life experience; machines do not grow on their own, but emerge from different interactions with the environment”. [15]In her view, technology must emerge from (novel) ecosystem, such as monoculture plantations, without ignoring or neglecting biodiversity within the plantations.

Although not directly related to plantations, one notable initiative that has gained global attention is the Human Urban Microbiome Initiative (HUMI).[16] This project promotes multispecies sustainability, ranging from microbes within the human body to those in built environments, alongside other species, all of which are recognized as essential in maintaining biodiversity and promoting sustainable ecosystems. This example illustrates how digital technology can transcend traditional boundaries and open new pathways for scientific discovery, particularly in the development of multispecies sustainability studies.

Another example is a project developed by New Zealand-based artist Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, titled For the Love of Bees (FTLOB).[17] This initiative has influenced public understanding of the vital role bees play in sustaining ecosystems, especially in agricultural environments. Honey bees do not live in isolation when fulfilling their need for nectar, which they gather from flowers planted by farmers, and likewise, humans place their trust in honey bees for pollination and ecological balance. This awareness of the interconnectedness between humans and nature shapes the foundation for developing digital technologies. As imagined by Donna Haraway, addressing ecological crises requires collaborative work and a shared commitment to sustaining multispecies life.[18] Therefore, the development of digital technologies must prioritize the sustainability of biodiversity, especially within plantation areas.

  1. Mahadika, Gilang. & Setiadi. (2023). Against the Anthropocene: Pathways through More-than-human Realms and Ontological Anthropology in Indonesia. In Proceeding of 10th International Conference of Nusantara Philosophy (ICNP). Digital Press Social Sciences and Humanities. ↑

  2. Barua, Maan, Martín, Rebeca Ibáñez & Achtnich, M. (2023). Plantationocene. Society for Cultural Anthropology, (Theorizing the Contemporary, Fieldsights). Retrieved from https://culanth.org/fieldsights/series/plantationocene. ↑

  3. Moore, Jason. W. (2022). Struggles fo Dignity in the Web of Life: Capital, Waste & the Violence of Cheap Nature. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://jasonwmoore.wordpress.com/2022/10/17/struggles-for-dignity-in-the-web-of-life-capital-waste-the-violence-of-cheap-nature/. ↑

  4. Besky, S. (2019). Exhaustion and Endurance in Sick Landscapes: Cheap Tea and the Work of Monoculture in the Dooars, India. In How Natures Works: Rethinking Labor on Troubled Planet. Albuquerque: University of Mexico Press. ↑

  5. Badan Pengelola Dana Perkebunan. (2018). IPB Perkenalkan Precipalm, Sistem Rekomendasi Pemupukan Sawit lewat Satelit. Retrieved June 6, 2025, from https://www.bpdp.or.id/IPB-Perkenalkan-Precipalm-Sistem-Rekomendasi-Pemupukan-Sawit-Lewat-Satelit. ↑

  6. Demfarm. (2021). Precipalm: Mudahnya Petani Kelapa Sawit Mencari Tahu Jenis Pupuk yang Tepat. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.demfarm.id/precipalm-mudahnya-petani-kelapa-sawit-mencari-tahu-jenis-pupuk-yang-tepat. ↑

  7. e-Komoditi. (2020). eKomoditi Indonesia Releases EPCs versi 3.8 Dilengkapi Iris Scanner. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.ekomoditi.id/news/ekomoditi-indonesia-release-epcs-versi-38-dilengkapi-iris-scanner.html. ↑

  8. geo.ugm.ac.id. (2022). PUSPICS Fakultas Geografi UGM Selenggarakan Pelatihan Geospasial Artificial Intelligence (GEOAI) Aplikasi Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit untuk PT SMART Tbk. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://geo.ugm.ac.id/2022/12/13/puspics-fakultas-geografi-ugm-selenggarakan-pelatihan-geospatial-artificial-intelligence-geoai-aplikasi-perkebunan-kelapa-sawit-untuk-pt-smart-tbk/. ↑

  9. Haraway, D. (2003). The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press. ↑

  10. Chao, S. (2021). The Beetle or the Bug? Multispecies Politics in a West Papuan Oil Palm Plantation. American Anthropologist, 000(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13592. ↑

  11. Mahadika, Gilang. (2023). “Berkebun” di Perkebunan: Sistem Agroforestri Lokal dalam Menyeimbangkan Kebutuhan Komoditas, Subsisten, dan Pemulihan Keanekaragaman Hayati. Universitas Gadjah Mada. Retrieved from https://etd.repository.ugm.ac.id/penelitian/detail/219854. ↑

  12. Mahadika, Gilang. (2025). Pekebun Dayak Benuaq: Agroforestri “Orang Hulu” Memelihara Keanearagaman Hayati. Retrieved April 20, 2025, from https://www.insideindonesia.org/topics/bacaan-bumi/6a-pekebun-dayak-benuaq. ↑

  13. (Mahadika, 2023, pp. 232, 233). ↑

  14. Li, T. M. (2024). Securing oil palm smallholder livelihoods without more deforestation in Indonesia. Nature Sustainability, 7, 387–393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01279-w. ↑

  15. Gan, Elaine, Picard, Caroline & Stoetzer, B. (2016). The Multispecies World of Technology: In Conversation with Elaine Gan and Bettina Stoetzer. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.anthropocene-curriculum.org/contribution/the-multispecies-world-of-technology. ↑

  16. Flies, Emily J., Skelly, Chris, Lovell, Rebecca, Breed, Martin F., Phillips, David & Weinstein, P. (2018). Cities, biodiversity, and health: we need healthy urban microbiome initiative. Cities and Health, 2(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2018.1546641. ↑

  17. FTLOB. (2014). for the love of bees. https://www.fortheloveofbees.co.nz/. ↑

  18. Haraway, D. (2015). Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin. Environmental Humanities, 6, 159–165. p. 160. ↑