President Prabowo Inspects Modern Agricultural Downstream Industry, Technology at Great Harvest in Karawang

President Prabowo Subianto inspects various innovations in modern agricultural downstream industry and technology at the series of the Great Harvest event in Kertamukti village, Karawang regency, West Java province, on Wednesday (1/7).

President Prabowo Subianto inspected various innovations in modern agricultural downstream industry and technology at the series of the Great Harvest event in Kertamukti village, Karawang regency, West Java province, on Wednesday (1/7). During the inspection, President Prabowo watched the soil cultivation process using autonomous agricultural tools and machinery, such as tractors and rice transplanters, a demonstration of the use of agricultural drones, and the use of automatic pumps to support irrigation system efficiency.

In addition, the Head of State also visited the Agricultural Downstream Industry Exhibition, which showcased various innovations in the processing of agricultural and plantation products. He even tasted several of such products displayed at the exhibition.

One of the downstream industry innovations on display was the development of products from gambier. Muhammad Makky from Andalas University explained that gambier is Indonesia’s endemic plant with significant strategic potential.

“Gambier is the only plant that can grow in Indonesia and cannot be grown in other countries. Therefore, it is an endemic plant and has a unique advantage because it has no competitors from other countries,” he said in a separate statement.

He said that gambier (extract) is processed from gambier leaves that are boiled and squeezed to produce paste-like sap that then hardens into chunks. These chunks contain two main active components, namely tannins and catechins, which are highly sought after globally.

Muhammad Makky also emphasized that Indonesia still exports gambier in chunk form, allowing more of its added value to be enjoyed by other countries.

Therefore, he hopes for the Government support for the development of the domestic gambier downstream industry.

“We certainly hope that the President, through the Presidential assistants, ministers, and other institutions, will provide opportunities to open the gambier downstream industry, particularly in production centers in West Sumatra and North Sumatra,” he said. (Bureau of Press, Media, and Information of Presidential Secretariat) (JAS/TM)