Sukabumi (Antara Bali) - Apparently prompted by recent scarcity in supply and soaring price of garlic the government said it hopes to boost the country's production of the food commodity.
The government is set to expand the country's garlic plantations by 2,000 hectares per year in a bid to meet growing domestic consumption and market demand, Agriculture Minister Suswono has said.
"With the program in the next several years, the country would again have 20,000 hectares of garlic fields," Suswono said.
Indonesia once had 20,000 hectares of garlic fields, but most farmers stopped growing garlic after the market is allowed to be flooded with import, he said.
Farmers grew their lands with other more profitable crops, resulting in shrinking production of garlic from year to year, he said, giving no figure.
"Garlic growers in Indonesia are small farmers or landless farm workers. They could not be expected to compete with foreign growers who have large land and use high technology," he said. (*/DWA)
Govt to Boost Garlic Production
Sabtu, 30 Maret 2013 19:56 WIB
