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Sugarcane farmers seek help from Jokowi
APTRI members said they received a positive response from the President.
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A worker loads sugarcane onto a truck during this year’s harvest season in Purwosekar village in Malang, East Java. (JP/Aman Rochman)
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ndonesian Sugarcane Farmers Association (APTRI) representatives met with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in Jakarta on Tuesday to seek price certainty for sugar produced by farmers, which usually declined during the harvest and milling seasons.
“We're not asking for much. We only want price certainty for farmers’ sugar before the milling season,” said APTRI supervisory council head Arum Sabil on Wednesday in Gresik, East Java, as quoted by kompas.com.
“We also want certainty on the purchase volume of sugar from farmers based on the result of a survey by an independent team assigned by the government.”
APTRI representatives met with Jokowi at the State Palace in Jakarta. Jokowi was accompanied by Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman and Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko.
Arum said she had conveyed the aspirations of APTRI members during the meeting and had received a positive response from the President, who promised find solutions to the problems faced by sugarcane farmers.
During the meeting, APTRI representatives also called on Jokowi to activate the Indonesian Sugar Plantation Center (P3GI) to deal with sugar-related issues, Arum added.
The association also called on the President to reestablish the Indonesian Sugar Council, which was disbanded by the government so that it could function as a coordinating agency.
Arum said Jokowi pledged to follow up on the input received in a regulation.
“Thank God he responded positively,” he added. (bbn)
