Give priority to agro-industry: Soeharto<\/p>\n
CILEUNGSI, Bogor, West Java (JP): President Soeharto called on
\nfarmers and entrepreneurs yesterday to focus on horticulture and
\nthe agro-industry because of the potential for added value.<\/p>\n
\"Our horticultural products are actually not inferior to
\nforeign products. But we must admit that many of us still put
\nthem on a low priority scale,\" he said in a ceremony to celebrate
\nthe 15th World Food Day.<\/p>\n
The ceremony was highlighted with the dedication of the 264-
\nhectare Mekarsari Fruit Garden in Cileungsi, West Java.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who was accompanied by First Lady Tien Soeharto and
\nVice President and Mrs. Try Sutrisno, urged academicians to
\nincrease research on the genetic aspects of plants and fruits,
\nbecause Indonesia currently spends a considerable amount of
\nrevenue on imported fruit.<\/p>\n
\"The research material is available at the fruit garden in
\nCileungsi and at a number of other gardens across the country,\"
\nhe said in the ceremony, which was held in front of a unique 30-
\nmeter high \"waterfall\" building at Mekarsari Fruit Garden.<\/p>\n
Commenting on agricultural and food development in Indonesia,
\nSoeharto said self-sufficiency in rice should be maintained to
\nensure that the country's increasing population continued to have
\na steady supply of food.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim Abul-Zahab, the Food and Agriculture Organization
\n(FAO) Representative for Jakarta, said later yesterday that this
\nyear's theme for World Food Day, \"Food for All\" focused on the
\nrole of the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors in
\neradicating hunger and malnutrition.<\/p>\n
Abul-Zahab said that despite the world's high level of food
\nproduction -- with cereal yields reaching 2.7 tons per hectare
\nin the 1990's --- more than 800 million people are still
\nchronically undernourished. Among them, 200 million children
\nunder the age of five suffer from acute or chronic protein and
\nenergy deficiency.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the theme has been locally adjusted to \"Fruits
\nand Vegetables to Improve the Quality of Human Resources\".<\/p>\n
\"The theme reminds us that fruits and vegetables are important
\nto improve the nutrition quality of our diets in order to enhance
\nthe quality of Indonesians,\" Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
Garden<\/p>\n
With yesterday's opening of Mekarsari Fruit Garden, the
\nlyrics of the famous Indonesian song saying pepaya, pisang, jambu
\ndibeli dari Pasar Minggu (papayas, bananas and guavas bought from
\nPasar Minggu) could be changed to papayas, bananas and guavas
\nbought from Mekarsari.<\/p>\n
In the 1970's Pasar Minggu in southern Jakarta was famous as a
\ncenter for Indonesian tropical fruits, but its reputation has
\nslowly faded. Mekarsari Fruit Garden, claimed to be the biggest
\nfruit center in Southeast Asia and the biggest tropical fruit
\ncenter in the world, could well come to substitute for the loss
\nof Pasar Minggu as a fruit center.<\/p>\n
Owned by Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Foundation, which is chaired by
\nFirst Lady Tien Soeharto, Mekarsari Fruit Garden was built as a
\nrealization of Mrs. Tien Soeharto's wishes to develop thee
\nIndonesian fruit industry and to produce high quality fruit
\nmarketable in the country and overseas.<\/p>\n
Besides functioning as a horticultural garden which cultivates
\nnot only Indonesian fruits but also vegetables and decorative
\nplants, the fruit garden is also meant to be a new tourist venue
\nand a research center for horticultural studies. It will also be
\ndeveloped as a center for the preservation of Indonesian germ
\nplasm and rare plants.<\/p>\n
Designed<\/p>\n
Eighty percent of the garden, designed in the form of a
\nLamtoro Gung (Leucaena leucocephala) tree's leaf pattern, is
\nplanted mostly with fruit, 10 percent with decorative plants and
\nflowers, five percent with vegetables and the remaining five
\npercent with medicinal plants and greenery.<\/p>\n
Lamtoro Gung, was chosen as the theme of the garden and
\ntranslated into the design of the garden because it symbolizes a
\nmulti-purpose plant -- preserver of the living environment and
\nfulfiller of physical and spiritual needs.<\/p>\n
Mekarsari Fruit Garden, managed by PT Mekar Unggul Sari
\nbelonging to the President's youngest daughter, Siti Hutami
\nEndang Adiningsih Pratikto, has a fruit supermarket, nurseries,
\ngreenhouses, a 20-hectare lake, a flower exhibition park and a
\nviewing tower. (pwn\/als)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/give-priority-to-agro-industry-soeharto-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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