A total of 1,440 sugarcane cuttings in 36 tubes arrived in Merauke on Thursday on a direct chartered flight from Australia, said Cahyono, head of the South Papua Quarantine Agency, on Friday.
Before the cuttings were placed in the quarantine isolation and observation room, a series of actions were carried out in the form of administrative and physical examinations as well as laboratory tests to ensure they showed no symptoms of quarantine plant pest organisms, he added.
He said that imported cuttings need to come with a phytosanitary certificate (PC) from the country of origin, which needs to be reported and submitted to the quarantine officer at the entry point along with an entry permit letter from the Minister of Agriculture.
"Administratively, the cuttings have been equipped with PCs from Australia and a permit letter from the Agriculture Minister," he added.
After inspections, the cuttings were taken to the plant quarantine laboratory for sampling and testing, he added.
Merauke, which is designated as a sugarcane food estate in South Papua, is included in the National Strategic Programs (PSN) outlined in Presidential Decree Number 40 of 2023 concerning the acceleration of national sugar self-sufficiency and the provision of bioethanol as biofuel.
The presidential decree targets increasing sugarcane productivity by 93 tons per hectare through agricultural practices in the form of propagating, planting, and maintenance.
Cahyanto said that his party is ready to observe the entry of sugarcane cuttings from Australia through laboratory testing.
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Translator: Evarukdijati, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Anton Santoso
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