Indonesia: Government to increase garlic production
Indonesia meets 90 percent of its garlic demand from imports, as only 2,000 hectares of land are devoted to the crop, with domestic production standing at 13,000 tons per year.
“We will reduce the dependency on imports in stages. We will add between 1,000 and 2,000 hectares of farm land for garlic every year,” Agriculture Minister Suswono told Indonesian news portal liputan6.com on Wednesday.
“We used to have up to 20,000 hectares to grow garlic, but because of free trade since 1998, cheaper imported onions began entering the country. We want to revive domestic production,” he added.
Separately, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said the government would import a total of 60,000 tons of shallots over the next three months to help meet the country’s demand.
Unlike with garlic, Indonesia meets 90 percent of its shallot demand from domestic production.
Annual production reaches between 800,000 and 900,000 tons, while domestic consumption stands at 400,000 tons. The government typically relies on imports before the annual shallot harvest.
Shallots, however, are not harvested until April, which is one reason why the price of the commodity has skyrocketed in recent months.
Source: thejakartaglobe.com
