The regional administration of West Sulawesi said it is ready to boost its cocoa production to contribute to bringing the prediction to reality.
The central government has set aside a large budget of Rp1.2 trillion for the province to boost its production and improve the quality of the commodity, West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh said here on Tuesday.
Currently Indonesia is the worlds third largest producer of cocoa beans after the Ivory Coast and Ghana in Africa.
West Sulawesi is the largest producing province in the country.
Anwar said the Rp1.2 trillion budget would be used in three years to boost production.
Cocoa plantations in the province are dominated by small farmers.
The government has encouraged development of cocoa processing industry and for that purpose export tax has been imposed on cocoa beans to better guarantee supply in the country.
(AS/o001)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
