VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo said there is a new promising agriculture commodity to improve the national economy as well as farmers' welfare. The new commodity is porang (elephant foot yam).

The president during the 2021 Inflation Control National Coordination Meeting at the State Palace, Jakarta Wednesday (25/8) said porang is very promising and has a great market. He therefore hoped porang commodity can be encouraged into finished goods such as cosmetics or food ingredients.

President Joko Widodo recently visited a porang processing facility in East Java. Porang (elephant foot yam) is a type of tuber that contains glucomannan carbohydrate or a substance in the form of complex sugar. Porang is usually processed as shirataki; a mixed ingredient in cake, bread, ice cream, candy, jelly, jam; and as a thickening agent for syrups. Other than food, porang can be made into cosmetics.

According to the president, Indonesia must seriously work on this commodity. Not only to increase farmer's exchange value and welfare, but also to create a milestone so that agriculture can give greater contribution to the economy. He then asked for preparedness from the upstream to the downstream.

Jokowi affirmed the farmers' cluster model institution also needs strengthening. The farmers-owned business in the form of cooperatives and village-owned enterprises (BUMDes) also need to be developed so that the post-harvest added-value can keep increasing.

The other effort to be done, said the president, is expanding market access by means of partnership with the industries. Financial access alo needs to be made easier and simpler. In funding, the government will keep accelerating the supermicro loan (KUR). The agriculture KUR in 2021 was 70 trillion rupiahs of the total KUR, namely 253 trillion rupiahs. The KUR distribution scheme will keep being perfected so that it is suitable to the business characteristics in the agriculture sector.

President Joko Widodo also asked the ministers, heads of institutions, and regional heads to strengthen assistance for the farmers. He also asked all to use the technology, including digital platforms to increase farmers' productivity and cut short the lengthy marketing chain for the micro, small, medium businesses in the food sector.