The government in Indonesia is planning to revise Article 11 of the Agriculture Ministry regulation on the “Import recommendations of horticulture products concerning importer obligations,” to include an additional provision that will require garlic importers to cultivate the vegetable.
In the revised draft, the Agriculture Ministry requires garlic importers to cultivate 5 percent of the granted import quota as part of an effort to decrease garlic imports that reach an average of 450.000 tons per year. With the new measure, the government hopes to build a garlic self-sufficiency program in the future.
Responding to the plan, the Indonesian Garlic Entrepreneurs Association (APBPI) president Piko Nyoto Setiadi called for the Agriculture Ministry to grant them one to two years to find land for garlic farming before the implementation of the new rule.
