SUGAR PRODUCTION EXPECTED TO DROP AGAIN

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 25 (Antara) - In contrast to the government's target to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar at the end of its five-year term in 2014, sugar production in the country has continued to drop over the last three years.          Director of the Indonesian Sugar Plantation Research Centre Aris Toharisman said on Tuesday that the national sugar production is expected to drop by 10-20 percent this year compared with the same period last year.          With only three months of the milling season remaining, national sugar production is not likely to exceed 2.3 million tonnes. "The national sugar production during last year's milling season had reached 2.6 million tonnes. This year, the production will fall below that," added Aris.          The government has set itself a target of achieving sugar self-sufficiency by 2014 to meet the country's annual need for sugar, amounting to about five million tonnes.          However, over the last three years, the country's sugar production has continued to decrease, forcing the government to revise and reduce its annual production target.          The government lowered its sugar production target from 2.7 million tonnes to 2.57 million tonnes in 2011. Yet, by the end of 2011, it managed to produce only 2.26 million tonnes of sugar. And last year, too, it sharply cut its production target from 4.4 million tonnes to 2.6 million tonnes.            Again this year, the production of sugar is expected to fall below the 2012 production level of 2.6 million tonnes.              Aris Toharisman attributed the decline in sugar production to anomalies in the climate cycle, noting that the country had experienced heavy rainfall in the middle of August this year, hampering the production of sugarcane.          Under normal conditions, the rains would dissipate before the start of the dry milling season in May and June. He said the 2.3 million tonnes of sugar that will be produced this year can meet 40 percent of the domestic demand.          In 2011, the national sugar production reached 2.26 million tonnes, slightly lower than in 2010, when sugar production reached 2.28 million tonnes. The government has set a target of achieving annual production of 5.7 million tonnes beginning 2014.          Besides anomalies related to the climate, a decline in sugar production is also attributed to the decrease or limited sugar cane plantations.  If Indonesia wants to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production, the government should expand the country's sugar cane plantations.         Last year, PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia's (RNI) President Director Ismed Hasan Putro said farmlands in Java are no longer as productive as they used to be. Therefore, he added that if the government continues to rely heavily on Java, it would never achieve its self-sufficiency target.          The problem, however, is that it is difficult to find land for increasing the acreage of sugar cane plantations.          "At present, finding land is still the main problem with regard to sugar cane plantation expansion efforts. The government still needs a total of 350 thousand hectares of land, in addition to the existing 450 thousand hectares to achieve its 2014 target," Agriculture Minister Suswono said last year.          Indonesia's annual sugar consumption is estimated at five million tonnes, while the country produces only 2.50-2.57 million tonnes of white sugar a year.          Therefore, almost 50 percent of domestic demand, including that from the food and beverage industry, is met by imported sugar.          However, the government's policy on importing sugar has always been met with criticism from farmers and the public.          Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri, for example, is not in favour of importing sugar, saying that the country is able to meet the local demand for sugar.          "Indonesia should not import sugar because it is able to meet the national demand for sugar," added Megawati, who is also the general chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).           The former president made these remarks during her campaign for the East Java governor candidate Bambang-Said pair at Wirabhakti Sports Hall late last month. Megawati said East Java, as the basis of Indonesia's biggest sugarcane plantations, should be able to meet the national demand for sugar.          "I urge Bambang, whom I have nominated as a candidate for the position of East Java governor, to firmly reject the import of sugar," she said.          However, according to Aris Toharisman, the local demand for sugar cannot be met due to the lack of spacious land for the expansion of sugar cane plantations.          After all, weather conditions in recent years have not been conducive for the production of high-yielding sugar canes.          Last February, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicted that this year's dry season would run normally. However, it had to revise its prediction last May, claiming that rains would continue till August.          "Last week, the BMKG predicted that rains in some parts of Indonesia will fall earlier than in the normal period as what had happened from 1981 to 2010. This contradicts farmers' hope that the dry season will last longer for sugar cane milling activities to proceed optimally," Aris said.          He added that as a result, sugar canes could not be harvested on time and were difficult to be cultivated during the rains this year. "This will surely reduce sugar production," he said.         The climate anomaly cycle is becoming shorter and unpredictable.          "A long rainy season occurred in 1998. It came again 12 years later in 2010. But now, the rainy season occurs in a three-year period," he argued.          In the meantime, Adig Suwandi, head of state-owned plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara XI for business development, said long rainy seasons increase the costs of cane harvest and sugar processing.          "In the rainy season, it is relatively difficult to cut sugar canes and transport them; so, the cost is higher. At least Rp2,000 is needed as additional cost per quintal (100 kg) for the cutting and transporting of sugar canes to milling factories. At the same time, the price of auctioned sugar tends to drop and this adds to the burden of the farmer," Adig said.          Besides, heavy rains also reduce the sugar cane's sucrose content. Up to the second week of September, the average sucrose content is 0.5-1 point lower compared with the corresponding period in the previous year, according to Adig.          "The sucrose content reached 7.5 percent last year but now it stands at 6.5 percent," he added.***3***      (T.A014/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 25-09-2013 15:25:13