SIGNALS of scarcity of sugar consumed in the country are starting to worry the public. The deficit in sugar production for national consumption, increasing geopolitical pressures and the strengthening of the dollar which causes sugar prices to continue to rise are bitter facts that the public must accept.
To overcome this problem, PTPN as one of the state instruments through PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara (SGN) which has 36 sugar factories (PG) is ready to start the sugar cane milling period in 2024 to meet the community’s sugar needs.
“Currently the SGN sugar factory is ready to grind farmers’ sugar cane to meet the sugar needs for public consumption. We just have to wait for the maturity level of the sugar cane to reach optimal yield,” said SGN Main Director, Aris Toharisman, Tuesday (23/4).
Aris said that the current price of sugar tends to rise due to decreasing sugar stocks and some imported sugar is still in the process of being procured. However, he assured that sugar stocks would be fulfilled when PG had re-milled them.
“The total stock currently is approximately 144 thousand tons spread across all SGN working areas. Meanwhile, the projected production for 2024 is a total of 992 thousand tons of white crystal sugar to meet the sugar needs for public consumption,” explained Aris.
Aris added that domestic sugar production this year was slightly above last year, reaching 2.3 million tons. Around 800 thousand tonnes of which are produced by PTPN and farmers who supply PTPN sugar cane.
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“The March assessment data saw an increase compared to 2023, namely 12.8 million tonnes from last year’s only 10 million tonnes of sugar cane. Meanwhile, the protas also increased to 69 tonnes per hectare from 58 tonnes per hectare in 2023,” he continued.
According to him, the role of sugar cane farmers is very large in achieving national sugar self-sufficiency. Therefore, his party gives special attention to partner farmers, including providing production facilities through the Makmur program in collaboration with PT Petrokimia Gresik and financial institutions to facilitate capital needs from plantation costs to the logging and transport process.
Furthermore, Aris said that PTPN Group, through SGN, continues to strive to improve the performance of the sugar industry in various ways. First, by improving partnership relations with sugar cane farmers. Second, facilitate farmers in selling sugar at profitable prices and fast payment. Third, facilitating the availability of fertilizer through the Makmur program in collaboration with BUMN Pupuk and financial institutions.
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“The impact of this effort can be seen from the expansion of the people’s sugar cane area this year, which increased from around 120 thousand hectares to 123 thousand hectares,” he added.
Prosperity Program
“PTPN helps us increase sugar cane productivity and farmer welfare. Through superior programs and technical assistance, they help us increase harvest yields and income. This collaboration is very meaningful for our progress and prosperity,” said Tuji, one of the partner farmers.
Tuji also hopes that the Makmur program, which is increasingly being used by farmers, will have no restrictions in providing aid funds to farmers.
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On the other hand, the National Food Agency (Bapanas) also adjusted the Reference Purchase Price (HAP) of IDR 17,500 per kilogram in accordance with price dynamics in the field, especially to accommodate the selling price of sugar from farmers.
Chairman of the DPD Indonesian People’s Sugar Cane Farmers Association (APTRI), Sunardy Edy, welcomed various PTPN and Government policies which really support the smooth running of sugar cane farming businesses.
“We positively welcome policies that aim to improve farmers’ welfare and support sugar self-sufficiency efforts, both from PTPN and the Government. Because basically, the role of sugar cane farmers should not be forgotten, and achieving sugar self-sufficiency is directly related to improving the welfare of sugar cane farmers,” said Sunardy .
In addition to efforts to improve the performance of the sugar industry, PT SGN has also set a target to increase sugar productivity to reach 8 tons per hectare. Steps such as adding fertilizer to sugarcane fields, improving drainage, and improving the quality of irrigation are the company’s focus to achieve this target.
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