Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi said Indonesia plans to export corn to Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia this year. "Bapanas will export as much as 200 thousand tons in the first three months when exports begin. In the first three months it will be 200 thousand tons," Arief said when met at the Foodbank of Indonesia Office, South Jakarta on Tuesday, January 10 2023. Arief said he had met the ambassadors from the export destination countries to discuss this plan. However, he admitted that there were still a number of obstacles facing Bapanas. Among other things, the provision of transport technology that functions to move corn from one ship to another. To build this technology, the government poured investment fund of IDR 2 trillion.
"By using technology in the form of a trunk. So the trunk will transfer corn from ship to ship. Unlike now, use tarpaulins, use nets," said Arief.
Previously, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said President Joko Widodo alias Jokowi gave directions to increase corn productivity. Productivity increases are carried out through land clearing in new areas and the use of superior seeds.
President Jokowi's direction, he said, was based on the consideration of the high potential of the corn commodity. Based on USDA data for 2022, it was recorded that Indonesia's corn production reached 34.4 million tons. The government also plans to make efficiencies in all lines of activity in the corn supply chain, starting from the harvesting process, post-harvest handling, storage, to the transportation and distribution processes. Efficiency is carried out by applying agricultural innovation and technology, one of which is the use of digital technology in precision agriculture.
According to Airlangga, the downstream potential of the corn processing industry is very high for the production of processed foods such as corn starch, corn vermicelli, corn grits, corn flour, sweeteners and snacks. He said Indonesia would expand the corn processing industry in a number of regions, as well as adjust the specifications for corn raw materials between domestic production and industrial needs.
