TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's state-owned food holding company, ID Food, Director Frans Marganda Tambunan revealed the dynamics currently being faced by the national sugar industry. He assessed that domestic sugar production continues to decline, resulting in a gap between supply and demand.

“Since sugar is an essential commodity in Indonesia, its effective production is crucial to boost production figures,” Frans said at the National Sugar Summit 2023, in East Jakarta, on Wednesday, Dec. 13.

Frans highlighted that there is currently a decline in the availability of sugarcane land, and the technology of the sugar industry in Indonesia is still limited.

Over the past 10 years, he recorded that the average production of the commodity has shown a decline. According to him, this condition is not in line with the growth of sugar consumption, which continues to increase every year.

The sugar production has shown a decline of 1.16 percent over the past decade. This is inversely proportional to the 7.4 percent increase in sugar area and the 0.9 percent increase in yield. However, Frans said sugarcane productivity in Indonesia has also decreased by 2.06 percent.

He believed that the cause of the current decline in sugar productivity was not only the climate issue but also the lack of technology application in the country’s sugar industry. Therefore, he suggested that the government should immediately implement and develop technological innovation in the sugar industry.

Frans emphasized the importance of using technology to help business players to boost commodity production in Indonesia. “Especially to support the sugar self-sufficiency program launched by the President through Presidential Decree No. 40 of 2023,” he concluded.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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