Sufficient Ginger Yield, Commission IV Asked The Government To Stop Importing

JAKARTA - Ginger imports from Vietnam, Myanmar and India entered the country as much as 397.9 tons. Hundreds of tons of ginger are still mixed with the ground. Thus, Commission IV of the DPR asked the government to act because it was considered to have the potential to carry disease or have plant-disturbing organisms.

The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) also decided to destroy hundreds of tons of imported ginger that did not meet the quarantine requirements because there were still soil contaminants in the ginger carrier media.

Provisions regarding the prohibition of imports of ginger mixed with soil are contained in the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 40/2017: guidelines for international movement of growing media in association with plants for planting and ISPM 20/2019: guidelines for phytosanitary import regulatory system.

Then, the Decree of the Head of the Center for Plant Quarantine and Biological Safety Number: B-22322 / KR.020 / K.3 / 12/2019 dated December 26, 2019 regarding the Phytosanitary Requirement of Fresh Ginger to the Territory of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia does not allow imports of ginger with soil contaminants. .

However, only two containers were destroyed on Friday, March 26, namely 1 container with a volume of 27 tonnes belonging to PT Mahan Indo Global and 1 container with a volume of 25.8 belonging to CV Putra Jaya Abadi. Meanwhile, 9 containers with a volume of 236.7 tons belonging to PT Indopak Trading have not been destroyed.

The Head of BKP of the Ministry of Agriculture Ali Jamil explained that in total PT Indopak Trading imported 11 containers of ginger, of which 2 containers of clean ginger and 9 containers of ginger were mixed with soil.

For the prosecution of ginger mixed with soil, Ali admitted that it was difficult to get approval from PT Indopak Trading because he could not meet the company management. In fact, said Ali, the destruction of imported goods is the responsibility of the importer.

"But indeed we apologize profusely to Indopak. I feel like we are bothered to take care of it because we cannot meet with the management itself," he said in a working meeting with Commission IV DPR RI, Wednesday, March 31.

The imported ginger is registered under the name of PT Indopak Trading. However, Ali said, when the authorities wanted to meet with the company management, it was the ship cargo expedition officer (EMKL) who came.

"After that there were more people (not company management), so we need time for this execution," he explained.

Not only that, said Ali, his party also faced another problem in the effort to destroy the imported ginger, namely the limited facilities used. Mainly, the destruction is carried out by burning it using an incinerator.

However, Ali explained that the incinerator in East Java only has the capacity to burn 2 tons of ginger per day. Meanwhile, imported ginger mixed with soil that enters more than 200,000 tons.

Ali said that his company is currently offering an alternative to the extermination facility for imported ginger belonging to PT Indopak Trading. Later, the ginger root will be heated using a wood heating machine owned by 2 companies in East Java. Through the wood heating machine, the quarantine plant-disturbing organisms (OPTK) on the soil mixed with ginger will die. Then, then the ginger is destroyed.

Domestic production is a surplus

Director General of Horticulture of the Ministry of Agriculture Prihasto Setyanto said based on the records of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the country's ginger production is sufficient for national needs. Even in 2019, Indonesia produced 174,000 tons of ginger, and 183,000 tons in 2020.

Meanwhile, the average requirement per year is only 34,000-38,000 tonnes. This means that domestic production is sufficient for national needs. Prihasto said ginger imports were unnecessary.

Furthermore, he said that in 2019 it was recorded that Indonesia exported 4,000 tons. Meanwhile, in 2020 ginger exports carried out by Indonesia amounted to 2,188 tons.

"So that in balance, the national demand for ginger from within the country is sufficient," said Prihasto.

Prihasto also predicts that in 2021, domestic ginger production will be a surplus. So, it is not necessary to import ginger from supplying countries.

"We are still in surplus. The prognosis is that in 2021, this is still a surplus of 10,100 tons for ginger," he explained.

The DPR asked the government to stop imports

Deputy Chairman of Commission IV DPR Hasan Aminuddin from the NasDem faction as the chairman of the meeting asked the government to stop importing ginger. Moreover, the data shows that domestic production is sufficient for national needs.

"We are a production, obviously we have to stop imports," he said.

The meeting between Commission IV and the ginger entrepreneur resulted in three points of conclusion. First, Commission IV asked BKP to disseminate information on Law number 21 of 2019 concerning Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine, especially regarding the import regulations for agricultural commodities.

Second, Commission IV urges the government in this case the agricultural quarantine agency (BKP) to immediately destroy imported ginger that enters Indonesia and does not comply with quarantine requirements.

"Furthermore, Commission IV recommends BKP to report importers to the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) if the imported ginger has not been destroyed within 10 days," he said.

Finally, Commission IV DPR RI also asked the government, in this case the Director General of Horticulture, Ministry of Agriculture to reallocate the budget for ginger development for the 2021 budget year.

"So that the national ginger needs are met and stop the increasing importation of ginger. Furthermore, the development of the ginger commodity becomes a priority program in 2022," he said.