PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara (SGN) together with several Ministries held a kick off for the Manis Menuju Program Towards National Sugar Self-Sufficiency, Wednesday (20/11) in the sugar plantation area of PG Djatiroto Lumajang.
“We have promised today, God willing, with internal strength, and with the support of you and all ministries, we are ready for Consumption Sugar Self-Sufficiency in 2028,” said Mohammad Abdul Ghani, President Director of Holding Perkebunan Nusantara PTPN III (Persero).
His party provided an explanation of the achievement scheme based on an analysis of national sugar production data of 2.47 million tons in 2024. Meanwhile, next year’s production target for PT SGN can increase its production to 150,000 tons.
“This means that next year we will produce more than 2.6 million tons of consumption sugar. And that means we have broken the cycle since 1931. Because the highest sugar production in 1930 was 2.9 million tons,” Ghani explained further.
Various programs have been carried out to support sugar self-sufficiency, including the use of technology for sugarcane plant care, the ETERA platform application that connects farmers with banks, fertilizer provision through the Makmur program, good irrigation, and the use of new varieties of sugarcane seeds which are expected to increase sugar production.
“This is not something difficult, we have a program for acceleration, namely the intensification of the ETERA platform (people’s sugarcane ecosystem). Collaboration between Banking, Pupuk Indonesia, and the Directorate General of Plantations has supported this which will accelerate the achievement of sugar self-sufficiency,” explained Mahmudi, President Director of PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara (SGN), a subsidiary of Holding Perkebunan Nusantara PTPN III (Persero).
According to Mahmudi, Indonesia can achieve national sugar self-sufficiency in 2028, this is proven by the increase in sugar production in 2024 reaching 2.4 million tons and will increase in 2025 to 2.6 million tons.
Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan mentioned the joint support of all stakeholders for President Prabowo’s Asta Cita program and efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency that have been planned.
Zulkifli is optimistic that if the performance of a number of related Ministries is compact, food self-sufficiency can be achieved before 2028.
“We use drone technology, irrigation, the tools are also if we used hoes before, now we use machines. Then the seeds are new varieties of superior seeds from before, so that productivity can be high, last year 2.2 million production is now 2.4 million tons so we are short 800 thousand. we accelerate if productivity is high so that the profit is large, so that people plant again and we have new fields so that we can be self-sufficient before 2028”, hoped Zulkifli Hasan.
On that occasion, the Coordinating Minister for Food also took the time to review four superior sugarcane seed varieties that were just released, namely PS Nusantara 081, PS Nusantara 082, PS Nusantara 083, and PS Nusantara 084, the superior sugarcane plantation P10T, carried out the first sugarcane planting and used a lorry to the event location.
The kick-off activity of the Manis Program towards national sugar self-sufficiency was attended by the Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan, Assistant Deputy for Plantation and Forestry Industry of the Ministry of SOEs, President Director of Holding Perkebunan Nusantara PTPN III (Persero), President Director of PT SGN, Directorate General of Plantations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Directors of Himbara and Holding Pupuk Indonesia, and representatives of sugarcane farmer partners.
Meanwhile, the recruitment of Sugarcane Agripreneurs opened by PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara (SGN) some time ago and attracted 1,110 young people who registered within three days after registration opened. After the selection, the 10 selected participants were confirmed with placement in Sragen Regency, Central Java in a series of launching kick off the Manis Program on Wednesday (20/11) in Lumajang, East Java.
The selected participants will manage a mini estate with a sugarcane plantation area of 50 to 100 hectares. This program was initiated by PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara (SGN), a subsidiary of Holding Perkebunan Nusantara PTPN III (Persero) which operates in the sugar commodity sector and is supported by the Directorate General of Plantations, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia as a solution
for link and match between productivity issues and the role of the younger generation in the agricultural sector. This Sugarcane Agripreneur Incubator Program is a breakthrough in providing space for the younger generation to become pioneers in the modern agricultural revolution.
“After the Sragen area, we will continue the recruitment of the Sugarcane Agripreneur program for placement in the Madiun, Kediri and Mojokerto areas,” said Mahmudi, President Director of SGN.
