Agriculture Ministry Plans to Convert Tea Plantations into Garlic Fields, Approaches West Java Governor

The Ministry of Agriculture is currently studying the use of several unproductive tea plantation areas in Bandung, West Java, to support the garlic self-sufficiency programme. This step is part of the government’s effort to prepare around 100,000 hectares of garlic planting land in the coming years. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono stated that land availability is a crucial aspect of the garlic self-sufficiency programme, as garlic cannot be cultivated everywhere and requires highland areas with specific climatic conditions. “To plant garlic to meet national demand, we need approximately 100,000 hectares. The first challenge is finding the location, because garlic cannot be planted just anywhere; it must be in highland areas,” Sudaryono said during a press conference at his office in Jakarta on Wednesday (17/6/2026). He noted that the government already has several garlic development centres that also serve as national breeding hubs, including Sembalun in West Nusa Tenggara, Temanggung in Central Java, and Humbang Hasundutan in North Sumatra. To meet the self-sufficiency target, however, the government requires additional land on a large scale. The Ministry of Agriculture is therefore collaborating with several state-owned enterprises in the food and plantation sectors to support the commodity’s development. “We have discussed this with the garlic farmers’ association, Bulog, ID Food, and also PTPN. So state-owned enterprises are involved. The off-takers for the breeding programme are ID Food and Bulog,” he said. Under the scheme being prepared, PTPN will not only provide land but also directly participate in garlic cultivation activities in suitable locations. One area currently under discussion is tea plantation land in Bandung, where parts of the estate are no longer used for production. “We are talking with Kang Dedi Mulyadi, the Governor of West Java, about how some of the tea plantations in the Bandung area that are no longer operating could be converted into land for garlic,” he stated. Sudaryono emphasised that the Ministry of Agriculture has already mapped out the need for around 100,000 hectares to support the self-sufficiency target. He believes the availability of potential highland areas is still substantial, so finding land is not the main obstacle. “The Ministry of Agriculture has already identified the land. Finding 100,000 hectares is actually not difficult because we do have the locations,” Sudaryono said. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the biggest challenge lies in the supply of seeds. To date, more than 90% of national garlic demand is still met through imports, so domestic breeding capacity must be strengthened first. According to Sudaryono, directly using imported seeds for very large planting areas cannot be done carelessly. The seeds must undergo an adaptation and breeding process to suit Indonesia’s agro-climatic conditions. “If seeds from abroad are directly planted on 100,000 hectares, they may not grow optimally. There must be agro-climatic adjustment and a breeding process first,” he said. For this reason, the government estimates that the garlic self-sufficiency target will take several years to realise. In addition to expanding planting areas, the government must also gradually build domestic seed availability to meet national needs. During this period, the government plans to continue reducing dependence on imported products by boosting local farmers’ productivity. “As this progresses, we will, God willing, continue to reduce the import quota by encouraging our domestic productivity,” Sudaryono said. The government is targeting that within three to four years, the foundation for garlic self-sufficiency will begin to take shape, both in terms of land availability and seed supply. Through this, Indonesia’s dependence on imported garlic is expected to decrease gradually until it can eventually be fulfilled entirely by domestic production.