JAKARTA - The government has started to push a program that directly touches the farmers' pockets. In the presence of President Prabowo Subianto, Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman reported the acceleration of the development of 870 thousand hectares of people's plantations, accompanied by the development of downstream industries in a number of areas.
The program covers strategic commodities such as coconut, cocoa, coffee, mete, and sugar cane, which until now have mostly been sold in the form of raw materials with limited added value.
"Plant cocoa, coffee, mente, coconut, and sugar cane. We have done this by 2025, then continued in 2026 and 2027," said Amran after meeting President Prabowo at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Thursday, June 19.
According to Amran, the total land that entered the program reached around 870 thousand hectares and was spread across various areas, including Papua. This program is part of efforts to strengthen the economy of farmers while accelerating the downstreaming of the plantation sector.
This step is also supported by a not small budget. Amran revealed that the government had allocated agricultural assistance of Rp. 3.2 trillion this year. Previously, in 2024, the assistance disbursed reached around Rp. 2 trillion.
Thus, the total assistance that has been disbursed has penetrated more than Rp5.5 trillion.
"We report to the President. He said this program will continue. This is direct assistance to the people and grants," he said.
The assistance includes agricultural tools and machinery, rice field development, to support the development of productive land. A number of areas even requested additional rice field printing programs due to the high public interest in expanding the planting area.
Amran said that West Papua was one of the regions that applied for the additional program.
However, the government's focus is not only on expanding land. The added value of plantation products is also a major concern. Therefore, the construction of processing facilities or downstream is accelerated so that plantation commodities are no longer sold in raw form.
For the coconut commodity, for example, processing plants have been built in North Maluku. The government targets one additional facility to be completed this year.
In addition, similar projects are also being developed in Morowali, Central Sulawesi, and Indragiri Hilir, Riau, one of the largest coconut centers in Indonesia.
Amran said that accelerating downstream processing was one of President Prabowo's main directions for the agricultural sector. The government wants plantation results not only to increase production, but also to create jobs and drive regional economies.
"The 870 thousand hectare plantation is for the people of Indonesia, for our farmers. This is a grant and creates new jobs," said Amran.
This program is one of the government's big bets in the agricultural sector. If it goes according to plan, farmers will not only sell their crops, but also enjoy the added value of the processing industry, which has been more enjoyed outside the producing areas.
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