President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is optimistic that the agricultural sector in the third quarter of 2021 can grow better than the first and second quarters. To note, in the first quarter of 2021 the growth of the agricultural sector was at 2.95 percent and in the second quarter it grew 0.38 percent.
"I am sure that in the third quarter the agricultural sector can still grow even better," said Jokowi at the 2021 National Coordination Meeting for Inflation Control, Wednesday (25/8/2021).
This optimism arises because Jokowi believes that the market potential for agricultural commodities is still very large, both domestically and for exports.
"We know that in the first semester of 2021, from January to June 2021, exports from the agricultural sector reached IDR 282 trillion or USD 1.95 billion, up 4.05 percent compared to the same period in 2020, which was IDR 247 trillion or USD 1.71 billion," he said. .
According to him, there are still many potential export commodities that need to be developed, such as porang. He believes porang can become a new commodity that provides added value for farmers.
"I saw in the field like I said that in the future, porang will create a very large market. But I entrust this porang commodity to be encouraged to produce finished goods, either in the form of cosmetics in the form of rice or other foods," he said.
Other Commodities
In addition, there are also commodities from swallow's nest to edamame and various other horticultural products that still have the potential to be developed. According to him, it must be serious in increasing the exchange rate of farmers.
"We must seriously work on this not only to increase the exchange rate of farmers and farmers' welfare but to produce a leap, so that the agricultural sector has a greater contribution in driving the engine of economic growth," he concluded.
