Minister Of Industry Says Only 4 Percent Of National Sago Land Areas Are Utilized

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA -

Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the use of national sago potential in the country was still relatively small.

In fact, Indonesia has the largest potential for sago land in the world. Of the 6.5 million ha of sago land worldwide, about 5.5 million ha or 85 percent are in Indonesia.

Minister of Industry Agus said, based on data on plantation statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) in 2022, less than 4 percent of the newly utilized national sago area.

"That only covers 212,468 ha with a total of 385,905 tons of sago production in 2022," Agus said in his remarks at the National Symposium of Sago Processing Industry at the Ministry of Industry Building, Jakarta, Monday, July 29.

Agus added that there are three provinces in the country that are the largest sago producers today, namely Papua, Riau and Maluku.

"The distribution of sago land is about 5.2 million ha in Papua," he said.

Meanwhile, Riau Province is the largest producer of sago, which is 74 percent nationally with a production figure of 285,468 tons originating from an area of 76,597 ha.

Currently, Agus said, sago productivity in Riau Province reaches 3.73 tons per ha or the highest compared to the Papua province which is ranked second nationally by producing 1.21 tons of sago per ha.

As for Maluku Province, which is ranked third nationally, which only produces 0.27 tons of sago per ha.

"The use of sago potential in Indonesia is still very low due to several obstacles," said Agus.