Banten's Forestry Office Expands Pepper Plantations

Serang, Banten, Oct 8 (Antara) - The Forestry and Plantation Office of Banten Province will continue to expand pepper plantations to meet high market demands, Head of the Forestry and Plantation Office of Banten Province Suyitno said here Wednesday. "We are optimistic that pepper plantations will improve the economic condition of the people," he added. Suyitno explained that the pepper production in Banten Province was 223 tons/year, cultivated in an area of 827 hectares. The pepper plantation in the province are spread across Lebak District (372 hectares), Pandeglang District (228 hectares) and Serang District (208 hectares). "We train pepper farmers to enhance their pepper production so we can at least meet the demands of local markets," Suyitno said. According to him, Banten Province has the potential to expand its pepper plantations as it has vast fertile farmlands. "We hope that besides food and horticulture plantations, farmers will expand their pepper plantations as well. Moreover, the market price of pepper is quite high at Rp80,000-Rp100,000 (US$6.53-US$8.16) per kilogram," he said. Meanwhile, Head of the Plantation Division of Lebak District Imam said the pepper plantation in the district was spread across sub districts such as Bayah, Panggarangan, Gunungkencana, Bajarsari, Cijaku, Cihara and Cilograng. Some 372 hectares of pepper plantations currently belong to the people. "We keep encouraging the farmers to improve production by implementing the pepper cultivation technology," Imam said.