Ministry of Agriculture and SOE discuss downstreaming plans for gambir from West Sumatra

Padang Pariaman District (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) together with one of the State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) is discussing plans for downstreaming gambir plants originating from West Sumatra Province (Sumbar) to provide better economic impacts for farmers and the region. “Now we will discuss (gambir). We are currently mapping with the BUMN,” said Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman in Padang Pariaman District, West Sumatra Province, on Tuesday. This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture regarding the Ministry of Agriculture’s plans together with one BUMN to downstream gambir plants by building a processing factory in Ranah Minang. During his visits to Sumbar, Andi Amran has repeatedly highlighted the great potential of the plant scientifically named uncaria rhynchophylla. Moreover, nearly around 80 percent of the world’s gambir supply comes from Limapuluh Kota District and Pesisir Selatan District, West Sumatra Province. Separately, West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi said the government will soon build a gambir processing factory in the province as part of downstreaming after receiving information from the Minister of Agriculture. According to the Governor, the gambir processing factory will be directly managed by PT Perkebunan Nusantara IV. It is likely that the processing factory will be built in Limapuluh Kota District, which is the national gambir centre. In the last two years, the trend of gambir exports has also shown an increase. In 2024, gambir exports reached 13,482 tonnes with a value of Rp574.7 billion, up from 2023 which was only 11,865 tonnes.