Khofifah Bans Farmers In East Java From Exporting Porang Seed Commodities, Now Rare

ILLUSTRATION / DOC VIA BETWEEN

SURABAYA - East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa has banned farmers from exporting porang. This prohibition is contained in the Governor's Regulation Number 30 of 2021 concerning the supervision of the circulation of porang seeds in East Java.

"In the governor's regulation, it is stated that porang seeds or porang frogs are prohibited from being exported. They can be exported when they are harvested, and processed in the form of chips or flour," said Head of the East Java Agriculture and Food Security Service, Hadi Sulistyo, Wednesday, August 25.

Hadi said the Governor of East Java's Pergub issued a regulation aimed at overcoming the scarcity of porang seeds. According to Hadi, porang is one of the prima donna plants in East Java, but currently many farmers are having problems growing porang, due to the scarcity of this commodity.

"There are a number of problems experienced by porang farmers, due to limited seeds. So this affects the price of various porang seeds," he said.

Currently, there are still 17 regencies/cities in East Java that are producers of porang. Producing porang is becoming a prima donna. The reason is the huge international market potential.

This is evidenced by the export value of porang which continues to increase every year. In 2018 the export volume of porang from East Java reached 5.51 tons with a value of around Rp270.3 billion. Meanwhile, in 2019 it increased 9 percent, to 6 tons with a value of around IDR 297 billion.

"Then in 2020 it will increase to 70 percent in volume of 10 tons with a value of Rp499.08 billion," he said.

The export destinations of East Java porang include China, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Regarding the price, Hadi said that porang tubers are currently pegged at around Rp. 7 thousand per kilogram (kg).

"If one hectare produces 15 tons with a harvest age of 2-3 years, then it can produce approximately Rp. 105 million per hectare," he said.