Citrus is an Indonesian commodity that has a comparative advantage and the demand for exports is quite high and continuous, so its development needs to be increased to reach 1 million superior citrus seeds, one of which is kaffir lime which has a market and export demand regularly every month. Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo encourages the development of regional-based horticultural commodities to increase export volumes by three times. This was stated by Limpo, when launching citrus seedlings in Batu City, he emphasized that the title of innovative disease-free citrus seed technology to support the development of the area being held today has a very important meaning.
Because, today and in the future, agriculture is one sector that can continue to accelerate trade during the pandemic. Especially with the current conditions, the world is faced with various contractions of climate change, so it really needs support from Indonesia, whose climate tends to be conducive in the agricultural sector. "Therefore, today in addition to technology degrees, exports are also carried out to several countries. And I strengthen it with the development of export-based cultivation and we also prepare integrators. Today I demand 1 million superior citrus seeds to be developed. We want restaurants in other countries some use oranges from Indonesia," said SYL, who is often called Yasin Limpo, Tuesday (19/10).
"Another effort is that we make Batu a nursery center so that the Batu people become a locomotive about commodities that we accelerate exports. Not only kaffir limes, our sweet oranges are also extraordinary to be able to compete with other countries," added SYL. The Head of the Agricultural Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fadjry Djufry, added that his party is ready to develop the cultivation of 1 superior citrus with a certain type that has high production and export potential. In the last 5 years, the Agricultural Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture has distributed 21.4 million disease-free citrus seedlings throughout Indonesia.
"This year, the Minister of Agriculture selected several types of superior oranges to be developed as many as 1 million seeds. Kaffir orange, one of the types of citrus developed because it is a mainstay of exports, today is exported to France and the Netherlands. The export of kaffir lime is carried out routinely every month to several country," he said. In addition to oranges, Fadjry explained that the Batu Citrus and Subtropical Fruit Research Institute (Balitjestro) also develops longan, apple, strawberry and other tropical commodities. Therefore, in the future the Agricultural Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture will collaborate with all strengths, namely synergizing with local governments, banks, farmers and business actors to increase the development of export-based horticultural areas.
"We are not only developing onfarm but also downstream. So with collaboration with various parties, we can produce export commodities whose jumps can be up to 3 times," he said. It is known, this series of technology degree activities not only exports oranges, but also the Minister of Agriculture releases assistance of 100,000 disease-free citrus seeds to farmers for regional development, signing of Cooperation Agreements (PKS) with several stakeholders, and launching of the book Innovative Technology of Healthy Oranges Nusantara.
