Decrease in Cigarette Production Threatens Tobacco Farmers

INDUSTRY.co.id - Semarang - Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (APTI) is worried that cigarette production will continue to decrease the uptake of tobacco farmers.

Chairman of APTI Suseno, in Semarang, Wednesday (08/11/2017), said cigarette production has continued to decline in recent years.

Cigarette production in 2016 was recorded at 340 billion cigarettes. The amount will decline this year to around 333 billion cigarettes.

"The decline is feared will have an impact on the decrease in tobacco uptake farmers by cigarette manufacturers," he said again.

Currently, he added, the extent of tobacco land scattered in various parts of Indonesia reached 210 thousand ha.

With the size of the land of that size alone, he said, the national tobacco production still cannot meet the needs of cigarette factories.

Some tobacco shortages are obtained through imports, especially for certain types of tobacco.

He cited the Virginia FC type of tobacco is still imported because the national production has not been able to meet.

The average national tobacco imports, he explained, reached about 120 thousand tons per year.

The tobacco industry is also aggravated by the oldest raised state revenue target from the excise sector.

According to him, the target of excise tax revenue in 2018 is projected to rise around Rp10.04 trillion from this year's target of around Rp150 trillion.

The rise in the target of excise recipients in the middle down the national cigarette production is feared will also affect the increase in selling prices of cigarettes.

"If the price of cigarettes rises, it is feared to trigger the emergence of fake cigarettes without excise," he told the media crew.

Therefore, he expects government intervention in relation to a policy of farming in favor of the peasants.

The number of tobacco farmers from upstream to downstream that depend on the commodity reaches 2 million people.

He explained that the policy of cigarette restriction is not only targeting the smokers, but now it has been targeting the supplier’s side.

"If there is no tobacco, there are no cigarettes," he said.