Mamuju district to increase national cocoa production

Having an extensive area of cocoa plantations, Mamuju district in West Sulawesi has the capability to improve national cocoa production and to make Indonesia the world`s largest cocoa producer.

In Mamuju alone, the cocoa plantation area covers 68,235.52 hectares with a production capacity of 14,571,092 tons per year in 15 sub-districts.

Mamuju District Head Suhardi Duka said on Thursday that the 

National Movement of Cocoa Production and Quality Improvement (Gernas Pro Kakao) program in the district has gained a lot of progress.

"The implementation of Gernas Pro Kakao in Mamuju has yielded a positive result in improving the cocoa farmers` welfare in the district and the province," Suhardi Duka said in Mamuju on Thursday.

He said the program, spearheaded by West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh, was declared by Vice President Jusuf Kalla in 2008 and since then it has been progressing well in Mamuju district in specific and West Sulawesi province in general.

Suhardi expressed optimism that the prospect and the potential development of cocoa in Mamuju will continue to progress rapidly because the cocoa production and productivity has been increasing since the program was implemented.

With the Gernas Pro Kakao program in Mamuju, he said the problem of cacao fruit borer pest and vascular streak die-back disease (VSD disease) now slowly begin to be solved optimally.

"Through the program, the local government has slowly begun to optimally eradicate the disturbing pest of cacao fruit borer and VSD disease," Suhardi said.

There are around 663 groups of cocoa farmers with encouraging income following the implementation of the program. 

"Central government should continue to maintain the Gernas Pro Kakao program in Mamuju because it has been able to improve the commodity`s production capacity and the farmers income," Suhardi said.

With that program, he expressed hope that Mamuju could improve national cocoa production in West Sulawesi and make Indonesia the world`s largest cocoa producing country. 

In a bid to improve cocoa production and quality in Mamuju, West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh said recently that the provincial government would build cocoa fertilizer plant with a capacity of 100,000 tons in 2012.

The governor said the cocoa fertilizer plant would be built at Bakengkeng village near Belang Belang port in Mamuju district, West Sulawesi.

He said the construction of the the largest cocoa fertilizer plant in Sulawesi has been approved by Vice President Boediono and would get the funds from 2012 state budget allocation.

When completed, Anwar Adnan said the plant would supply fertilizer to cocoa farmers of every province in Sulawesi island.

Speaking about the advantage of Gernas Pro Kakao program, the governor said the cocoa farmers in Polewali Mandar district also have expressed hope that the program would be maintained until 2014.

"The cocoa farmer in Polewali Mandar district admitted that they 

were greatly helped by the Gernas Pro Kakao program to increase their cocoa production capacity," Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh said, adding that the farmers have proposed to the central government to maintain the program.

He said the central government through President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to maintain the Gernas Pro Kakao program until 2014.

The governor also said early this year that he remained optimistic Indonesia would become the world`s largest coca producer and exporter.

"Since the announcement of Gernas Pro Kakao program in 2008, I remain optimistic that West Sulawesi is able to turn Indonesia into the largest cocoa producing country," Governor Anwar Adnan said at the time.

According to him, the program was intended to replace up to 70,000 hectares of cocoa, rehabilitate another 140,000 hectares and intensify farming on 300,000 hectares - bringing the total planted area to around 900,000 hectares of productive cocoa.

The West Sulawesi governor said Ivory Coast at present was the world`s largest cocoa producing country while Indonesia is on the third place, but he was optimistic that the latter will be the first in years to come.

He has also proposed that the ongoing Gernas Pro Kakao program program since 2008 be continued until 2014. 

"The Gernas Pro Kakao program has a target to improve the production and quality of the commodity to exceed Ivory Coast in 2014," the governor said.

In 2009 West Sulawesi produced 40,000 tons of cocoa but the production declined in 2010 following the reduction of budget from the central government.

According to the governor, 80 percent of national cocoa production came from eastern Indonesian regions while the rest come from other provinces such as Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, and Aceh.

Meawnhile, Vice Minister of Trade Mahendra Siregar has ever said Indonesia had a great opportunity to be the largest cocoa producer in the world for its ability to produce cocoa beans in large enough quantities.

As the number three producer in the world`s largest cocoa after Ivory Coast and Ghana, he said Indonesia should increase its production of the commodity. 

He said that besides boosting the production, the quality of Indonesian cocoa should also be improved because the commodity had special characteristics that were not owned by another country.

According to the Indonesian Cocoa Association, the cocoa bean exports from Indonesia`s main growing region of Sulawesi island increased 2.1 percent last year.

The shipments from the world`s third biggest producer of the chocolate ingredient rose to 280,708 metric tons in 2010 from 274,887 metric tons in 2009, according to data from the association.

Sulawesi accounts for about 75 percent of total output and overseas sales of the commodity from the Southeast Asian nation.

Therefore the West Sulawesi governor said the province would continue to maintain its cocoa production as national commodity and to develop it to increase the national economic growth

Source: ANTARA