JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo visited the porang processing factory owned by PT Asia Prima Konjac, Madiun Regency, East Java. Jokowi monitors the surroundings of the factory as well as has a dialogue with the farmers.
After reviewing the processing of these root crops, Jokowi views that this will provide good added value, especially to farmers.
"I asked how many tons per hectare could produce. I was told that one hectare could be 15-20 tons. Then the yield in the first planting season could be up to 40 million in 8 months," Jokowi said in a Youtube video broadcast by the Presidential Secretariat, Thursday, August 19. .
Jokowi considers that porang processing is an opportunity for Indonesia to expand the role of exports in foreign markets. Because, he said, porang is a healthy food ingredient and can even replace rice from rice as a staple food.
"This is a very big value, the market is still wide open and we know this porang will be the food of the future because it is low in calories, low carbon, and also low in sugar, sugar free. I think this will be a healthy food in the future. It can also be a healthier substitute for rice because the sugar content is very low," said Jokowi.
He then asked the Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo to pay more attention to the processing of porang. He emphasized that Indonesia could export processed porang in the form of flour to rice.
"I have told the Minister of Agriculture to really take this new commodity, the porang commodity, and we hope that we will not export porang in raw form, but as we have seen here. God willing, next year it will become a finished product, namely porang rice," he explained. Referring to the food.litbang.pertanian.go.id site, porang is a native plant of Indonesia and has long been known and used by the public.
Porang is also one of the biological richness of Indonesian tubers. As a plant that produces carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and dietary fiber. Porang plants have long been used as food and exported as industrial raw materials.
Porang processing is mainly carried out to obtain its glucomannan component. Porang products that are commonly processed and marketed from fresh tubers are chips, porang flour (konjac flour) and glucomannan flour (konjac glucomannan).
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