Cirebon to open new sugarcane fields to create more jobs
Cirebon to open new sugarcane fields to create more jobs
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post/Cirebon
The West Java provincial administration plans to open an 18,000-
hectare sugarcane plantation to boost sugar production and create
new jobs, a senior official says.
Sugarcane plantations in the province are expected to provide
a total of 20,000 jobs, said Mulyana Sukandar, the head of the
West Java Plantation Office.
The new plantation will be located in Garut regency and
involve farmers from the Indonesian Sugarcane Farmers Association
(APTRI).
Mulyana said the opening of the new plantation was a step
toward making the country sugar self-sufficient, as well as an
opportunity to create more jobs.
"We still depend on sugar imports to meet domestic sugar
demand. We should be self-sufficient in sugar," said Mulyana.
He said preparations for the plantation began earlier this
year and planting was expected to begin in 2006, with the first
harvest in 2007.
He added that when the plantation was fully operational, it
would boost West Java's sugar production capacity.
Current capacity in West Java is 107,606 tons per annum, or
about 5.37 percent of the country's total output, while the
province's sugar consumption reaches about 645,000 tons annually.
Mulyana said the current total area of sugarcane plantations
in West Java was 21,000 hectares, 9,000 hectares of which were
community-based and 12,000 hectares were managed by PT Rajawali
Nusantara Indonesia.
"The area of sugar plantations in the province will total
39,000 hectares with the opening of the new area. We estimate
that sugar production will increase by 100 percent from the
current total output," Mulyana said.
About 15 hectares of land in Cikelet subdistrict, Pameungpeuk
district, Garut, has been set aside as a model area to encourage
residents to get involved in the project.
Most Cikelet residents have already begun to replace their
groundnut crops with sugarcane.
"For the time being, one hectare of the 15 hectares is being
used to plant seedlings, while the remaining 14 hectares is being
used for production," said the chairman of the West Java branch
of APTRI, Marzuki Achmad.
Marzuki said residents were planting alternating rows of
sugarcane and groundnuts. "Locals can earn more and will not feel
so lost when they shift from cultivating groundnuts to
sugarcane," said Marzuki.