Leaf partnerships sought

Tobacco farmers in Indonesia’s East Java and West Nusa Tenggara provinces have asked the government to expand a partnership scheme between them and tobacco manufacturers, according to a story in The Jakarta Post.

The chairman of the Kasturi Tobacco Farmers Association (APTKI) at Jember, East Java, Abdurachman, said most tobacco farmers were concerned about how the season would turn out despite their having had a good harvest. This was because there was uncertainty about whether their leaf would be absorbed by the industry.

He said a partnership scheme would benefit both parties. For farmers, it would maintain a good selling price while for the companies, it would provide certainty over tobacco supplies.

According to Abdurachman, only 20 percent of the 5,000 ha planted to tobacco in Jember were part of partnership programs with cigarette manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Mukmin, a Virginia-tobacco farmer of North Pijot village in the Keruak district of the East Lombok regency, said he had enjoyed much benefit after joining a partnership program with PT Sadhana Arifnusa in 2016. “Previously, I was often forced to sell my crops at very low prices to avoid greater loss,” he said.

Previously, Agus Wahyudi of the Directorate General of Plantation at the Agriculture Ministry claimed the government had been formulating a partnership scheme that would involve more farmers.

He said that under the scheme cigarette manufacturers would be obliged to purchase local tobacco if they applied for a tobacco-import permit.