West Sulawesi Set To Revitalize Cacao Plantations

Mamuju, West Sulawesi, April 19 (Antara)- The provincial administration of West Sulawesi said it will embark on revitalization program to boost its cacao production this year. This year, Rp1 billion would be set aside for replanting as many cacao plants in the province have been too old, Head of the regional Agriculture Service Supriyatno said here on Friday. "The program is to restore the position of cacao as the main commodity to improve the welfare of the local people," Supriyatno said. He said a big part of cacao plantations in the province have been much less productive as the plants have been too old. West Sulawesi is one of the largest producers of cacao beans in the country having 185,000 hectares of plantations with production averaging 130,000 tons per year. Supriyanto said West Sulawesi has the potential to increase its contribution to the country`s total production of cacao beans. The provincial Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh said earlier cacao plantation contribute to curbing growing unemployment in the region. Anwar, quoting figure from the Central Bureau of Statistics, said unemployment rate in the province was relatively low at 3.25 percent of its population of 1 million. The unemployment rate is much below the national unemployment rate of 17 percent of the country`s population of around 240 million, he said. West Sulawesi relies more on the agricultural sector, especially cacao plantations, to cope with its unemployment problem, he added. Indonesia is the world`s third largest producer of cacao beans after the Ivory Coast and Ghana in Africa.