On Friday (30/10/20), PT Nusantara Segar Abadi (NSA), which is a subsidiary of PT Great Giant Pineapple (GGP), carried out the first harvest of export-quality Cavendish Bananas grown in the Pekutatan Plantation. This harvesting process is the result of cooperation and synergy between PT. NSA with the Jembrana Bali Regency Government, as well as local farmers.

The first harvest of Cavendish bananas was also attended by the Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Susiwijono Moegiarso, Deputy for Coordination of Food and Agribusiness of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Musdhalifah Machmud, Regent Jembrana I Putu Artha, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Directorate General of Holtikutura, Head of the Regional Office of DJBC Bali, Ministry of Finance, Head of Office Agriculture and Food Security of Bali Province, Plt. Director of Agricultural and Forestry Export Products, Ministry of Trade, Management in Charge of Sales and Marketing of PT. GGP and the Jembrana Police Chief.

This horticultural product development program for the Cavendish Banana fruit will continue to be developed by the direction and encouragement of President Joko Widodo and it has been agreed with the province of Bali to be 300 hectares which aim to increase economic equality in the region.

“The partnership between the central government, local governments, the private sector, and farmers are also expected to be a solution in increasing productivity, competitiveness, and product continuity of Cavendish Banana which can meet the needs of both local and global markets,” said Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso.

The contribution of exports, especially Indonesian fruits in 2019 has reached 95.98 million USD with a total volume of 110 thousand tons of which 11.62% or 11.15 million USD is the contribution of banana products. Knowing this, future production in Jembrana will continue to be developed and has been agreed with the province of Bali to be 300 hectares.

It is hoped that this program can continue to be developed as a bridge to increase the number of local fruit exports to foreign countries and to accelerate national economic recovery during pandemic conditions.

The added value of utilizing waste at a company scale appears to be applicable on a smaller scale as well. For example, the circular economy concept of utilizing waste that has been carried out by Great Giant Foods (GGF), in addition to providing value to the company, also benefits the surrounding community.

Manure waste (cow dung) in the hands of experts can be more useful than just manure. In this case, the GGF Sustainability Team educates the public by training and introducing techniques for processing manure into biogas. The training was conducted at the Thobul Qolbi Mosque in Dusun I Rantaujaya Udik, Sukadana District, East Lampung Regency while still implementing the health protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This training was opened by the Head of Region I Section of Way Kambas National Park, Bayu Aji Saputra, and was attended by 20 people from residents. The training on biogas introduction said GGF Assistant Manager of People & Community Sustainability, Gilang M. Nugraha, at the opening of the event as a means of sharing knowledge about biogas from cow dung that can be used by humans.

“Through this biogas introduction training, hopefully, there will be benefits of knowledge that can be learned by the community,” hoped Gilang.

Sustainability Project Expert Manager Julius Sugarjato as the speaker on biogas explained that cow dung that is not managed properly can cause health problems. That way, we must manage cow dung properly so that it becomes biogas, which is a gas resulting from fermentation activities from organic matter.

“The advantages of processing cow dung into biogas include getting an energy source or environmentally friendly fuel, the surrounding environment is clean and the residue of processing can be used as organic fertilizer,” explained Julius.

Meanwhile, Bayu Aji Saputra admitted that the activity initiated by GGF was very interesting and the material could be absorbed well by the community who are members of the Forest Farmers Group who are also assisted by the Way Kambas National Park area I.

“For the contribution of GGF, we would like to express our gratitude for educating the community about the introduction and use of biogas,” he explained.

Tumin, who is one of the training participants, admitted that after learning that cow dung can be processed to produce biogas, he and other residents are interested in building a simple installation made of cement, fiber, or plastic.

Terbanggi Besar Great Giant Foods (GGF) will soon operate 2 new Packing Houses (PH) located in Pekon Datarajan and Pekon Penantian, Ulu Belu District, Tanggamus Regency. PH Datarajan measures 10 x 20 m or an area of 200 square meters while PH Penantian is built with a size of 10 x 40 with an area of 400 square meters. With these two PH’s, in the future, it will accommodate all bananas from GGF’s Corporate Shared Value (CSV) partner farmers.

“Some of the banana plants of farmers in the PH area have started to harvest. So PH is prepared to absorb the banana harvesting process which starts planting at the end of 2019. and the hope is from this PH can absorb 4-5 retail colt diesel every week and in the future, we hope that 1 20 ft container will be exported from that location” said Tanggamus Operation Dept. Head Waliyuddin.

In the future, apart from processing Gold banana, Cavendish, Rajabulu, and Barangan, PH will also process other commodities such as

In the future, we hope to export 1 container 20 ft from that location, “said Tanggamus Operation Dept. Head Waliyuddin.

In the future, apart from processing Gold, Cavendish, Rajabulu, and Barangan bananas, PH will also process other commodities such as Kepok and Tanduk banana which are planned to be partnered with farmers as well.

PH Datarajan functions to accommodate farmers’ crops in the Datarajan, Karang Rejo, Muara Dua, and Ngarip areas with a partnership banana area of 100 hectares. Meanwhile, the PH of Penantian will accommodate a partnership area of 100 hectares spread across Pekon Ngarip, Pekon Penantian, Pekon Tanjung Baru, and Pekon Sinar Galih.

“The enthusiasm of farmers is very high with this CSV partnership program. There is a guaranteed price and market from the company so that farmers do not worry about planting bananas. Besides that, in this program the farmers are accompanied by a CSV team for banana cultivation techniques” he concluded.