AIKI Enthusiastic with Plan to Resume Cocoa National Movement (Gernas)

Makassar, S Sulawesi(Antara Bali) - The Indonesian Association of Cocoa Industry (AIKI) expressed enthusiasm with the support shown by the government to revive the program of Cacao National Movement (Gernas).

The support was shown with the planned visit by President Joko Widodo to the Gernas Kakao land in the regency of Mamuju, West Sulawesi on Thursday.
Sulawesi especially West Sulawesi, is the country's largest cocoa production center.

"We appreciate the attention shown by President Joko Widodo and his cabinet to development of the cacao sector especially with the plan to revive the Cacao Gernas program," AIKI general chairman Piter Jasman said in a statement on Wednesday.

Piter said AIKI has repeatedly asked the previous government to resume the program but failed.

The role of Cacao Gernas is important with the fast growing cocoa processing industry in the country, while the country's production of cocoa beans has tended to decline, he said.

He said in the past four years the production capacity of the country's cacao processing industry has increased 183 percent from 150,000 tons in 2010 to 425,000 tons of cacao in 2014.

Unfortunately , the contrary was recorded in the upstream sector with cocoa bean production shrinking , he said.

The production of processed cacao is expected to reach only 400,000 tons unless a concrete steps are taken including the revival of Gernas, he added.

"Failure to take anticipatory steps Indonesia could become a net importer of coca beans," he warned.

Indonesia is currently the third largest producer of coco bean in the world after the Ivory Coast and Ghana .

Piter said the Cacao Gernas program is a program to improve the quality and boost production of the commodity launched for the first time in 2009.

The program is quite successful but implementation had covered only 27 percent of the country's total cocoa plantations that the result is not enough to offset the declining trend in the remaining 73 percent, he said.

He said he hopes with the change in the government, attention is given back to modernization of cocoa farming as a major foreign exchange earner.
He said if the government is serious with the existing plantation areas of 1.7 million hectare and productivity raised to 1 ton per hectare a year, Indonesia could become the world 's largest cacao producer relegating the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

"Hopefully under the new government , the vision of Indonesia as the world's largest cacao producer could come to reality," he said. (WDY)