Farmers In Ponorogo, East Java Send 50 Tons Of Spices To India

PT Astra Internasional Tbk together with the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy and the local government released 50 tons of turmeric and ginger for export to India. ANTARA/HO-Astra International

JAKARTA - Farmers from the Prosperous Astra Village (DSA) of Ponorogo Regency, East Java exported 50 tons of turmeric and ginger worth Rp. 750 million to India.

This is inseparable from the intervention of PT Astra Internasional Tbk with the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the local government.

Head of CSR Astra, Bima Krida Pamungkas appreciated the fast growth of DSA Ponorogo in less than a year. So that it becomes one of the best, by successfully carrying out the first export of processed agricultural products.

"Hopefully DSA Ponorogo is not only in processing agriculture, but can develop in the future to other clusters. Whether it's a tourism cluster, craft or culture, or the like, Astra also wants DSA Ponorogo to grow in the second, third year. and so on," said Bima in a written statement received in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, March 22.

He is also grateful for the development of the Ponorogo DSA which has the full support of the Ponorogo district government and facilitators. This good step is certainly expected to trigger other villages to make breakthroughs by exporting various spices.

"In Ponorogo DSA, there are 10 villages targeting 400 people and approximately 100 farmers for the development of this spice export product," Bima said.

Meanwhile, Assistant Deputy for Community Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship at the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, Chairul Saleh, said that the government paid great attention to various achievements in improving welfare in rural areas. For this reason, the government encourages efforts to improve living standards through economic empowerment programs involving related sectors.

One of the efforts is to carry out various forms of collaboration programs. Starting from mentoring and training.

"Especially for leading commodities that are export-oriented and have potential," said Chairul.

Regarding exports carried out by DSA Ponorogo, Chairul emphasized that this result indeed encourages strengthening that Indonesian spices are still the best. Even history records that the colonials came to Indonesia for spices.

"Indonesia is a country rich in spices since hundreds of years ago. Even the colonials came, from the Portuguese to the Dutch, because of the potential wealth of spices in our country," he said.

Indonesia is currently ranked 9th in the spice supply country with an export value of 1.03 billion US dollars. For this reason, the government targets spice exports to grow to 2 billion US dollars by 2024.