Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Ministry of Agriculture will include coffee as one of the commodities to be prioritized in the plantation revitalization program next year, a minister said.
Agriculture Minister Suswono said here on Saturday that at present the plantation revitalization program only included three commodities, namely oil palm, rubber and cacao.
"Coffee is also a strategic commodity for rural economy. Therefore, we will included coffee as one of the commodities in the plantation revitalization program next year," the minister said.
He said that by including in the plantation revitalization priority program, coffee was expected to raise farmers` income and export earnings from the commodity.
Earlier when he observed the Coffee Research Center in Jember, East Java, the agriculture minister said that the government would increase the development of Arabica coffee.
The government planned to develop arabica coffee because this type of coffee had contributed 30 percent to national coffee production so that it was expected to increase in the future.
"It is also expected to increase national bio diversity and natural resources," he said. (*)
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