Gov’t Pushes for Improved Quality of Tea

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the total provisional figures for domestic tea production in 2017 reached 139,362 tons. Meanwhile, this year's production is estimated to only reach 140,084 tons.
Director General of Plantations at the Ministry of Agriculture, Bambang, admitted that although it is growing, the increase in domestic tea production is indeed very small.
However, he said that increased production must also take into account international market demand and the quality of domestic tea so that demand can increase.
`Yes, it is still small, but we are directing it towards quality. There is still an increase, but we are also considering the needs of the international market,` he said recently.
Therefore, Indonesia must also be able to improve its image, which is followed by promoting its tea abroad. However, before this is realized, improving the image of tea needs to start domestically, one of which is by boosting quality and local consumption.
“Increasing local consumption is usually also followed by international demand; domestic confidence increases international trust,” he added.
For this reason, his party is encouraging cooperation between the private sector or industry and small-scale tea farmers in order to advance the quality of domestic tea. In addition, his party will also distribute aid for tea rejuvenation on smallholder plantations.
This year, said Bambang, the Ministry of Agriculture will distribute funds amounting to Rp6.7 billion to intensify 215 hectares (ha) of tea plantations in 1 district/city and rehabilitate 1,000 ha in 7 districts/cities from 2 provinces.
“At the very least there is a partnership model [between industry or private sector with farmers], so we hope that the industry will help with the difficulties faced by our farmers, but perhaps because of price fluctuations on the market so that the industry's interest in paying attention to farmers is weak. This is where the government needs to be present,” he concluded.
Source: industry.bisnis.com