PT Umas Jaya Agrotama (PT UJA) Terbanggi Besar, has succeeded in increasing the supply of cassava raw materials by 30 percent in 2023. Fulfillment of cassava raw materials entering the factory is supported, in part, by the cassava partnership program carried out by PT UJA with cassava farmers.

The partnership program which will start in mid-2022 will also help factories obtain supplies of cassava raw materials. Currently, the partnership program has reached more than 400 hectares of land spread across 5 districts, namely Central Lampung, North Lampung, Tulang Bawang, West Tulang Bawang, Mesuji, spread across 8 sub-districts and 23 villages.

“The actual achievement of cassava raw material supply reached 30 percent higher than the planned budget target,” said UJA Production Head Mr. Ammar Viko Wicaksono.

With the increase in cassava raw materials entering the factory, of course the achievement of the Tapioca flour production target will also increase. Tapioca flour production in 2023 will reach 136% of the target.
According to him, the achievement in 2023 will be the best achievement in the last 10 years since 2013.

The increase in production is of course very dependent on the supply of cassava raw materials entering the factory. During the high season in early 2023, the factory will still be able to produce high levels. Apart from that, the factory has also recently expanded so that it can take advantage of as much as possible when cassava is abundant, he added.

Cassava starch levels are also quite good from the beginning to the middle of the year, but start to fall during El Nino due to the effect of farmers not being able to fertilize so that nutrients to increase starch levels decrease, he explained.

“Recovery in 2023 will be the best condition in the last 4 years in 2023,” stressed Mr. Ammar.

The cassava partnership program really helps farmers because this program provides loan fees that will be returned at harvest. Apart from that, farmers also receive assistance and guidance from PT UJA on how to plant cassava properly according to care standards until harvest.

The partnership is open and not coercive, when there are farmers who want to join, PT UJA will facilitate land surveys, file administration, if it meets the partnership program standards, farmers can join. Farmers who own 0.5 hectares of land can join in the partnership.

“PT UJA is targeting twice as much cassava from the partnership program by 2024,” said Mr Ammar.

He said, apart from the partnership program, there are financing funds, when farmers supply supplies to the factory, they don’t need to queue and can just unload. And if problems occur in farmers’ crops, the PT UJA partnership team always coordinates with the Great Giant Foods (GGF) Research Team to directly evaluate what conditions in the field are like so that there are recommendations for treating disease in plants.

“Several recommendations from the research team have been implemented on partner land that is experiencing pest and disease problems,” he stressed.