REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – National sugar producers had to wait for a year before obtaining Colombian sugar cane seed, the Director of Annual Crops of Directorate-General for Plantation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agus Hasanuddin, said on Wednesday. “According to Minister of Agriculture Regulation on the import of seed, it should meet several tests in laboratory,” he said. 

According to the standard procedure, the seed should undergo the quarantine period and adaptation test. Then the cultivation test in limited location must be conducted.

If it succeeds, government will release it as high-yielding varieties. But, he said that the farmers should not be worried because state-owned enterprises that producing sugar cane had tested Colombian seed. Yet, the import is allowed only for research.

Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture, Suswono, admitted that he signed Memorandum of understanding with Colombia to import sugar cane seed to increase the yield of national sugar related to national sugar production. He said, the draft of agreement was finished and he waited for Colombian Government input. Both countries will make a working group to process the probability of cooperation. 

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