Cirebon to open new sugarcane fields to create more jobs<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post\/Cirebon<\/p>\n
The West Java provincial administration plans to open an 18,000-
\nhectare sugarcane plantation to boost sugar production and create
\nnew jobs, a senior official says.<\/p>\n
Sugarcane plantations in the province are expected to provide
\na total of 20,000 jobs, said Mulyana Sukandar, the head of the
\nWest Java Plantation Office.<\/p>\n
The new plantation will be located in Garut regency and
\ninvolve farmers from the Indonesian Sugarcane Farmers Association
\n(APTRI).<\/p>\n
Mulyana said the opening of the new plantation was a step
\ntoward making the country sugar self-sufficient, as well as an
\nopportunity to create more jobs.<\/p>\n
\"We still depend on sugar imports to meet domestic sugar
\ndemand. We should be self-sufficient in sugar,\" said Mulyana.<\/p>\n
He said preparations for the plantation began earlier this
\nyear and planting was expected to begin in 2006, with the first
\nharvest in 2007.<\/p>\n
He added that when the plantation was fully operational, it
\nwould boost West Java's sugar production capacity.<\/p>\n
Current capacity in West Java is 107,606 tons per annum, or
\nabout 5.37 percent of the country's total output, while the
\nprovince's sugar consumption reaches about 645,000 tons annually.<\/p>\n
Mulyana said the current total area of sugarcane plantations
\nin West Java was 21,000 hectares, 9,000 hectares of which were
\ncommunity-based and 12,000 hectares were managed by PT Rajawali
\nNusantara Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"The area of sugar plantations in the province will total
\n39,000 hectares with the opening of the new area. We estimate
\nthat sugar production will increase by 100 percent from the
\ncurrent total output,\" Mulyana said.<\/p>\n
About 15 hectares of land in Cikelet subdistrict, Pameungpeuk
\ndistrict, Garut, has been set aside as a model area to encourage
\nresidents to get involved in the project.<\/p>\n
Most Cikelet residents have already begun to replace their
\ngroundnut crops with sugarcane.<\/p>\n
\"For the time being, one hectare of the 15 hectares is being
\nused to plant seedlings, while the remaining 14 hectares is being
\nused for production,\" said the chairman of the West Java branch
\nof APTRI, Marzuki Achmad.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said residents were planting alternating rows of
\nsugarcane and groundnuts. \"Locals can earn more and will not feel
\nso lost when they shift from cultivating groundnuts to
\nsugarcane,\" said Marzuki.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cirebon-to-open-new-sugarcane-fields-to-create-more-jobs-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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