Jambi (ANTARA) - Jambi Province exported 108 tons of sticks from the nipa palm tree (nypa fruticans) which have been certified by the Ministry of Agriculture through the Agricultural Quarantine Agency (Barantan) before being dispatched to India.
Quarantine inspection is carried out on sticks so that they can meet the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements or quarantine health requirements from trading partner countries, which are free from target pests and diseases because the sticks from nipa leaf veins are usually used for household needs and souvenirs such as plates, baskets. fruit, and others, said the Head of the Jambi Class I Agricultural Quarantine Center, Abidin, Monday.
The Ministry of Agriculture is committed to increasing exports of various agricultural commodities, with the aim that farmers and business actors can get proportional added value, in addition to being an input for foreign exchange for the country.
Quarantine officers carry out document and physical checks, ensuring that agricultural commodities are free of pests and diseases. If an investment of pests is found, quarantine measures such as fumigation or other quarantine measures are taken to eliminate the pests and this is to prevent rejection when they arrive at the destination country.
"In addition to sticks, four other Jambi agricultural commodities were also exported with a total value of Rp9.4 billion with the aim of going to various countries," said Abidin.
Jambi's exports included 8,500 tons of palm shells destined for Thailand worth Rp 6.6 billion, 81 tons of betel nut for Thailand worth Rp 1.41 billion, 108 tons of sticks for India worth Rp 863.65 million, a total of 117 processed wood, 6432 cubic meters destined for Taiwan worth Rp.453.58 million, and round coconuts totaling 27.5 tons to Pakistan valued at Rp. 89.25 million.
During the 2018 period, Jambi exported 49 types of agricultural commodities to 47 countries with a volume of 916,000 tons and 40,795 m3, and the frequency of shipments was 2,473 times with a value of Rp.3.95 trillion.
Comparison of exports of agricultural commodities for the January - February 2018 period with January - February 2019 there was an increase of more than 700 percent for palm shell commodities and 257 percent for areca nut (palm shells from 29,723 tons to 221,211 tons and 5,819 tons of areca nut to 14,988 tons).
Jambi Province itself has great potential in agriculture. In 2018 the total export value of Jambi's agricultural commodities reached Rp3.95 trillion with leading commodities including palm shells, areca nut, rubber slabs, crude coconut oil (CCO), and processed wood, with destination countries Japan, Thailand, Korea. South, India and Malaysia, said Abidin.
