It does not mean that we do not care about other regionsBandarlampung, Lampung (ANTARA) - Four provinces have been set as pilot projects of Prosperity Program (Program Makmur) ecosystem for coffee, State Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said.
"The four regions that have become the pilot projects are Lampung, North Sumatra, West Java and East Java," Thohir said here on Sunday.
The project has covered a total area of 4,600 hectares of farmers' coffee plantation in the four provinces.
"It does not mean that we do not care about other regions, but it will be better to start from small (area) and expand it to a larger area," he added.
The minister said he would visit the provinces within the next few months to review the project running.
"Because this ecosystem will need an off-taker. Our export today will be sent to Egypt, but the exporter said that our production is still below Vietnam," he stated.
Thohir has launched the first batch of the coffee export to Egypt by state-owned trading company PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI). It is part of a total three thousand tons of export to the country.
Related news: PT PPI launches first batch coffee export to Egypt
Therefore, he said, Indonesia's coffee production would need to be improved, in terms of quality as well as quantity.
"In Vietnam (coffee plantation productivity) is five tons per hectare with 13 percent of water content while we have productivity of two tons per hectare with water content more than 13 percent. This must be improved as 96 percent of our coffee plantations are owned by farmers," he said.
The Prosperity Program has run for six months with its first focus is on rice, corn and sugar cane. Under the program, the government has mentored farmers, and provided them with insurance to anticipate crop failure, as well as funding and seeds.
The program has succeeded in increasing the farmers' income by 60 percent, Thohir remarked.
The Prosperity Program would need the collaboration of regional governments, he said.
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Translator: Dian Hadiyatna, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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