Indonesia Develops Farmer-Owned Tea Factories
21 April 2014 12:54 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government is encouraging the development of farmer-owned tea factories in order to reduce reliance on the private sector. Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said that farmers-owned tea factories could boost farmers' income.
Last week, Bayu inaugurated the Iroet People's Tea Factory in Kampung Cisaat, Garut district, West Java. For the first time, farmers own and manage their own tea factory.
Iroet tea Factory is the first of 20 people's tea factories to be built in West Java and Central Java, Indonesia's largest tea producing provinces. The factory has a daily production capacity of 8.5 tons on wet bud, derived from tea farmer cooperative members. From the wet buds, the factory is expected to produce 50 tons of dried tea leaves per month.
The Indonesian Tea Association in 2009 noted that tea products contributed US$110 million in foreign exchange. However, local tea farmers are only capable of producing raw materials. The Association's secretary, Atik Darmadi, said that Indonesia's tea production continue to fall due to the shrinking size of plantation areas. "The market is controlled by foreign brands," Atik said.
PINGIT ARIA