North Sulawesi, particularly (its) South Minahasa District, is one of the largest coconut production centers in Indonesia, with a production rate of more than 270 thousand tons in 2021Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry will build a production house in South Minahasa District, North Sulawesi Province, to process coconut products.
Later, the production house will be managed by cooperatives to accelerate the downstreaming of coconut products owned by farmers.
"North Sulawesi, particularly (its) South Minahasa District, is one of the largest coconut production centers in Indonesia, with a production rate of more than 270 thousand tons in 2021. Unfortunately, this coconut production has yet to provide added value for small farmers first-hand," Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki noted in North Sulawesi, as quoted from an official statement on Friday.
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All along, farmers only sold whole coconut at a low price, he pointed out. On average, each whole coconut was priced at Rp2 thousand, but if it was processed into virgin coconut oil (VCO), it could be sold at Rp12 thousand per item.
One hundred kilograms (kg) of coconut were said to produce 25 kg of coir that could be processed to 7.5 kg of cocofiber at a price of Rp2 thousand per kg and 16 kg of cocopeat for Rp500 per kg.
Coconut shells were also said to be processed into briquette or charcoal that was highly sought after overseas.
"Business actors are also currently investing extensively in coconut products. Thus, this has a large economic value that is more than palm oil, and there is no environmental issue, so this is our (selling point)," the minister stated.
Farmers could not possibly be able to process products independently, as the required technology was quite expensive. Hence, establishment of the production house had become a huge measure as an effort to downstream processed products.
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Masduki laid emphasis on the need to maintain the house well, so it would last for a long period of time. If the initiative were to be successful, it is likely that the government would build similar production houses at other locations all over Indonesia, with each tailored to the region's iconic produce.
Head of South Minahasa District Franky Donny Was Demat remarked that his area had 46 thousand hectares of coconut farm area. In future, 600 SMEs will specifically develop coconut commodities from the production house.
He believed that the initiative would help coconut farmers, particularly Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), to get added value through downstreaming processed coconuts.
"Let us work hand-in-hand and support and work together to make this a success. Only five districts and cities accept this joint production house construction project, and South Minahasa is lucky to be one of them," Demat concluded.
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Translator: M Baqir I A, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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