REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman is preparing seeds of spice plants worth Rp2 trillion for 2018 in order to guarantee adequate stock of the commodities.
"In future, we will develop strategic commodities for export like those in the past. We will make ready the seeds of spices such as pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cacao worth Rp2 trillion in 2018. Hopefully, there will be additional stock in future," the minister said here on Tuesday.
He stated that potential spice-producing regions such as Maluku will be encouraged to produce export quality spices.
On the occasion, Sulaiman also pointed out that Indonesia will not import maize this year because so far there has been no demand for maize imports.
Indonesia usually imports maize which total up to two million tons till the middle of the year. If an extra budget is added to the revised state budget, Indonesia would be self-sufficient.
It was earlier planned to be garlic self-sufficient for up to 5 to 10 years in future even if there was no additional budget.
He noted that there was no need for large areas for garlic cultivation. The government has identified land for garlic cultivation in East Lombok, Central Java, Temanggung, Enrekang, and Solok.
If an additional budget amounts to Rp1 trillion, it could save the state Rp20 trillion from not importing the commodity, according to the minister.
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