Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Launching of Mango Estate and Taksi Alsintan in Penceng Sub-district, Gresik Regency, East Java Province, August 22, 2022

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

Yes, today I am in Gresik regency to plant mangoes in an area of a total of approximately 1,000 hectares in four sub-districts. And we hope the food estate run by both the public and private sectors can be integrated with the retention basin that has been built here. There is a retention basin. There is a food estate so the people can benefit from them and private sectors can also contribute.

What we want is production. It is planted now so that the fruits can be harvested in approximately three years. Some will be exported. Some will be for domestic needs because the demand for mango export remains low. I suppose there are high demands from the Middle East, China, Japan, and Europe, so we began [planting]. Moving forward, it will also be developed in other regencies that have marginal lands appropriate to plant mangoes.

And I am glad that based on what I see of what has been planted here, the management is excellent and we hope there will be QC (quality control) supervision from buyers so the level of quality will improve.

Reporter

Mr President, the roads for logistics in Gresik are still narrow, including the one you used. If you come here three times in one year, the road will be important, Sir.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

We have given the alternative. There are old roads, provincial roads, regency roads, but there are also toll roads now. If you are looking for speed, use toll roads. There is another alternative, toll roads. Use them. If you want logistics facility to be fast, use toll roads.

Reporter

What about those related to tractors, Sir? Equipment?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

As for agricultural equipment and machine, we hope we no longer use the old way. It means the provision from Ministry of Agriculture. We observed that it is not productive because once it is a little broken, it must be abandoned.

Now we have Taksi Alsintan program, which uses banking system, through banks. It means that if it is visible in an area, banks will finance it. If it is visible in a province, banks will finance it. We will try it and I suppose if it is supported by low interest rates, which we subsidize, and if we provide down payment—we are still formulating this one, I think many farmers in many regions, villages, provinces, and regencies will want to buy agricultural equipment and machinery, including rice milling units (RMU), dryers, combine harvesters, and tractors with the Taksi Alsintan program. It means that there will be one owner, such as UD Pesanggrahan, UD Dwi Putra Raya, or other business entities. They have the agricultural equipment and machinery and they rent them to farmers. Yes.

Reporter

Sir, isn’t the equipment too advanced? Considering the capacity of our farmers, they may not be familiar.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

If we want to be productive, we can reduce food loss in every production because our food loss is very high, 12-13 percent. We should use combine harvester. It can reduce food loss by 6-7 percent in a production. We certainly must go that way. With regard to workers in the agriculture sector, I noticed that some professions lacks workers. Modern agricultural production equipment and machine are the replacement, including harvesters, tractors, RMUs. Old RMUs generate many broken rice grains, but modern rice milling units can reduce broken rice grains by around 6-7 percent. And [the revenue from] the 6 percent can already be used to pay for the installment of the available RMUs. I suppose we must start to change our mindset. That is all.

Reporter

Thank you, Mr President. (DH/EP)