AEKI estimates 2016 coffee production will drop

"El Nino has been predicted and anticipated since last year, and resulted in predicted drop in national coffee production from 680,000 tons in 2015 to 625,000 tons in 2016,” the chairman of AEKI, Irfan Anwar in Medan on Thursday.

He delivered the statement on the sidelines of the IXth Regional Members Meeting (RUA) of AEKI North Sumatra with agenda of electing the chairman for the term of 2016-2021 which was opened by the Acting Governor of North Sumatra, HT Erry Nuradi.

According to Irfan, the Indonesian coffee production has been declining for the past years due to the impact of weather condition, old plants, shift of Robusta plants to Arabica and felling of trees and replacing them with other plants.

The highest coffee production was in 2012, which amounted to 750,000 tons.

On the other hand, national coffee land area is about 1.2 million hectares and the productive area is only about 950,000 hectares.

“The drop in production must be addressed jointly, especially with the government providing easiness of licensing for entrepreneurs to open coffee plantations and giving of superior seeds and fertilizer to the farmers,” Irfan who is also the founder of Coffindo said.

Increase in production both by extension of the areas and productivity of coffee is considered important considering that coffee continues to be a relied-on commodity for export and in the domestic market.

The coffee is a relied-on commodity because the overseas market is badly in need of Indonesian coffee, which has many types with different typical tastes, such as that produced in North Sumatra.

Besides, the domestic market is getting better with the rising trend of coffee consumption, especially among the young people who are in huge number in the country.

“Coffee is still promising, especially now that the price is still pretty good with a good trend. So it has to continue to be developed and it requires support, including from the government,” he said.

Irfan emphasized that the increase in production must also be followed by better quality, so that it would not lose in competition with coffee produced by other countries, such as Brazil, Vietnam and Columbia.

Currently, Indonesia is still the world’s third largest coffee producing country, after Brazil and Vietnam.

Acting Governor of North Sumatra, HT Erry Nuradi stated that the North Sumatra Provincial Government is ready to support and cooperate with AEKI in developing the production and quality of North Sumatra’s coffee.

He admitted that for long time coffee has been a relied-on export commodity of North Sumatra.

Based on data from the North Sumatra Plantation Agency shows that North Sumatra’s coffee area is about 82.085,25 hectares and its production was 58,054.03 and that needs to be improved, including its quality.

“The North Sumatra Provincial Government is ready to cooperate with AEKI in developing the production and quality of North Sumatra’s coffee,” he said.