Agriculture Minister Optimistic About Increase in National Sugar Production

Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman is encouraging national sugarcane productivity to strengthen domestic sugar security and remains optimistic that national sugar production will increase.

“Hopefully, we will not need to import white sugar. The way to achieve this is to ensure that 86 per cent of the people’s sugarcane plasma is not dismantled; therefore, the President has instructed us to be allocated a budget to maintain this plasma,” Amran stated in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Amran recently inspected the sugarcane plantations of Sugar Group Companies (SGC) in the Gedung Meneng District, Tulang Bawang Regency, Lampung.

During the visit, Amran also expressed his appreciation for SGC’s contribution, which is considered to have had a significant impact on the economy and employment absorption. “You have done much for the country; your total workforce stands at 40,000,” Amran remarked while inspecting the SGC plantations.

According to Amran, the presence of companies with large-scale operations and significant workforces plays a vital role in driving the economy and supporting the development of the agricultural sector in the regions.

Amran stated that the government is currently pushing for land optimisation and increased sugarcane productivity, including through the development of smallholder sugarcane plantations. This step is expected to strengthen the raw material supply while simultaneously increasing national sugar production.

He noted that collaboration between the government, sugar companies, and farmers is a crucial factor in achieving the established production targets.

Consequently, Amran expressed his support for SGC and national sugar companies to continue increasing productivity and contributing to the achievement of the national sugar production target of 3 million tonnes.

“We support efforts to ensure high production. Hopefully, we can achieve 100 tonnes per hectare,” said Amran.

The visit to the SGC plantations is part of the government’s efforts to directly observe the development of the national sugar sector while encouraging productivity increases at the plantation level.

Amran hopes that production increase measures can be implemented consistently so that the national sugar industry becomes stronger, more productive, and capable of supporting the government’s targets for achieving food security and national sugar independence.