TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and a Dutch volunteer organization PUM Netherlands have continued the cooperation on agricultural assistance for apple farmers in Batu City, to improve agribusiness sector in the region.

"We have previously provided assistance to improve apple harvesting quality, and now we continue to concentrate on post-harvest techniques or the development of SMEs in horticultural products processing," Chairman of the East Java Chamber of Commerce, La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti said on Sunday.

PUM Netherlands senior experts is a volunteer organisation committed to the sustainable development of small and medium-size enterprises in developing countries and emerging markets.

La Nyalla said, the first assistance focused on increasing apple production through good cultivation techniques, and it would be proceeded with assistance on post-harvest process and development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in processing sector.

"A number of things are considered worthy of observation and evaluation, including changes in extreme weather conditions, management of socio-economic conditions, and post-harvest processing," he said.

For post-harvest processing, he said, Kadin and PUM Netherlands will help SMEs in agribusiness to learn post-harvest handling, packaging, and market networking.

"We and PUM Netherlands have agreed to encourage the Kadin Institute to serve as, not only a knowledge center, but also to develop it towards a business incubator," he said.

According to La Nyalla, SMEs in agribusiness sector has a significant contribution to East Java`s economic growth.

Based on the national economic census, the East Java MSME population grew from 6.8 million in 2012, to 9.59 million in 2017, of which 4.61 million are MSMEs in non-agriculture sector, and 4.98 million in agriculture sector.

Data of the East Java Investment Board shows that investment in East Java during 2017 in MSME sector reached Rp152.39 trillion, while in the first half of 2018 it reached Rp95.95 trillion, up 22.87 percent compared to the same period of 2017.

The East Java`s Kadin and PUM Netherlands have worked on collaboration since 2017 on the development of apple farming in Batu.

The cooperation is aimed at developing an integrated agricultural land that include apple farming and post-harvest processing, animal husbandry, processing of livestock waste and manure into fertilizer and biogas, as well as training centers.

The project covered an area of around 8 hectares and will be conceptualized as a tourist and educational destination.

ANTARA