Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia After the Inspection of Coffee Bean Harvest in Kembahang Village, West Lampung Regency, Lampung Province, July 12, 2024
Journalist
Mr. President, allow me to ask. The coffee bean’s price is currently at Rp70 thousand. So, what is the Government’s effort to bring stability to the price of the commodity, especially in Indonesia, West Lampung province, Sir?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
This morning, I joined farmers to harvest coffee bean in West Lampung regency, Lampung province. We have 1.2 million hectares of coffee bean plantation, be it robusta beans or arabica beans, throughout Indonesia. The biggest plantation is in West Lampung regency with a total area of 60 thousand hectares. Almost 90 percent of the area is planted with robusta seed, and about 10 percent of it is planted with arabica seed.
We all know that the coffee bean’s price nowadays continues to rise although sometimes the price declines, but it tends to rise annually. Also, the volume of export demand keeps increasing. I have said to Minister for Agriculture to pay attention to coffee production, most importantly the productivity per hectare should increase. Mostly, 1 hectare produces 1 ton, 2 tons. It should be 8 tons to 9 tons, because other countries can achieve it.
So, it is our task to figure out how to boost the productivity per hectare drastically. It is possible if the treatment is right, the fertilizer is good, the planting distance is narrow, so the productivity per hectare can increase. If the productivity per hectare increases, the welfare of coffee bean farmers will be better. So, that is it.
Journalist
As for the issue of fertilizer for improving coffee bean production, the farmers hope that, for instance, the subsidy quota for fertilizer can be increased, Sir.
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Subsidized fertilizer has currently increased by two times. Same as the subsidy, it has increased double-fold. So, when I ask rice farmers, there is no issue in the last two weeks. On coffee beans, I do not see any issue concerning fertilizer yet.
Journalist
A general hospital in West Lampung regency does not have any CT scan device, Mr. President, so patients must go to Bandar Lampung city to get the facility.
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Most importantly, all hospitals that I visited should prepare the rooms. When the rooms are ready, the regional government should prepare the rooms for CT scan, cath lab, mammogram, modern X-ray, prepare it, and then the devices will be sent by Ministry of Health. This year, some devices will be sent, and next year, other devices will be sent for all regencies and cities, and MRI facility will be provided for hospitals in provinces. In here, the rooms are in preparation.
Journalist
Sir, what about coffee bean downstreaming?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
All our agricultural commodities should be developed for industrialization and downstreaming. I have just checked earlier that many products already use good packaging, ready for export. It has to be so. We should not export raw materials as we did for tens of years, hundreds of years, we should do downstreaming. Not only for coffee beans, cocoa beans, and palms, but also all farming and agricultural commodities.
(AW/EP)