Breadfruit

During his meeting with fishermen in Muara Karang, North Jakarta, recently, President Soeharto suggested that the fishermen grow breadfruit when the weather is too bad to go to sea. The produce, according to the President, can be exported.

I learned that the Indonesian Technical Institute is doing research on the processing of breadfruit into flour. Breadfruit flour has lower cholesterol than wheat flour.

If the results of the research are positive the new product will be able to compete with wheat, which has to be imported from foreign countries like Australia. This will encourage farmers to grow breadfruit trees in addition to growing oil palm trees.

To the state, the fruit trade would obviously bring in foreign exchange which means another source of income for the nation.

H. G. MALIKMASS

Jakarta