RI Needs to Take Advantage of Garlic International Trade

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - Indonesia needs to utilize the international trade of garlic to meet domestic needs nationally so as not to burden the price factor for consumers in the country.

"The price of garlic will still be expensive if the government closes itself from imports. In fact, our farmers have not been able to meet domestic demand," said Head Research Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) Hizkia Respatiadi in Jakarta, Tuesday (6/3/2018).

According to Hizkia Respatiadi, if Indonesia does not want to take advantage of international cooperation, the price of garlic in the country will remain high.

CIPS encourages the government to utilize international cooperation in many ways, one of which is to strengthen the capacity of the farmers themselves.

He argues that onion farmers should be given the widest opportunity to learn from their counterparts in large onion producing countries, such as China, India and Thailand.

This, he added, is important to maximize the production of domestic garlic production.

Previously, Director General of Horticulture of the Ministry of Agriculture Spudnik Sudjono said the budget should be increased to achieve the target of self-sufficiency onion set in 2019.

Spudnik acknowledged one of the obstacles encountered in achieving self-sufficiency in garlic is the availability of seeds so that his party is ready to bring garlic seed from Taiwan, because based on research more suitable with the climatic conditions in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Director of Vegetables and Medicinal Plants Prihasto Setyanto said to achieve self-sufficiency in garlic, then next year should be planted about 70,000 hectares.

The Ministry of Agriculture has issued Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture No. 16 of 2017 on Horticultural Product Import Recommendation (RIPH).

This Permentan contains clause that is importer of garlic oblige to planting in the country equal to 5 percent from total of imports submitted.