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.