The chimneys of the Tambora Sugar Estate (TSE) factory were finally visible after the journey through the sugarcane plantation on Wednesday (29/3/2017). As we approached the only sugar factory in West Nusa Tenggara, lines of containers could be seen. Far away, Mount Tambora could barely be seen through the thin shroud of clouds.
As we passed through the factory gate, giant machinery entered our view. A number of workers were busily operating the modern machinery in the factory in Doropeti village, Pekat district, Dompu regency. The aptly named factory is located on the foothills of Mt. Tambora, famed for a massive eruption in 1815.
The TSE factory was established and managed by PT Sukses Mantap Sejahtera (SMS), a subsidiary of the Sampoerna Group. Before establishing TSE, the Sampoerna Group had already established three refined sugar factories in Medan (North Sumatra), Cilegon (Banten) and Marunda (North Jakarta). TSE’s construction was completed on July 18, 2016.
“From Aug. 4 to Nov. 30, 2016 the factory held its inaugural sugarcane milling process,” manager Djoko Waluyo said.
The factory on the 12.5-hectare land currently employs 350 operators and 40 staff members. PT SMS invested Rp 1.3 trillion (US$97.5 million) into it. Djoko said TSE can process 5,000 tons of sugarcane per day. In the future, the factory’s capacity would be increased to 10,000 tons per day.
The target for the factory is to produce 72,000 tons of sugar per year. Other than to meet sugar demand in West Nusa Tenggara, the production from TSE will also be delivered to other regions. “Referring to existing data, the need for sugar in West Nusa Tenggara is currently 14,000 tons per year. The excess will be delivered to other provinces,” he said.
In order to meet the need for raw material, PT SMS has its own sugarcane plantation and partners with local sugarcane farmers. PT SMS has cultivation rights for a 6,000-hectare plantation. However, only 4,600 hectares are planted.
“We use the rest for infrastructure, including roads,” Djoko said.
About 1,000 local farmers cultivate 2,500 hectares. Their plantations are located in and around Pekat district. They produce between 50 and 80 tons per hectare.
In order to reach the annual production target, some 15,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation is needed with production averaging at 70 tons of sugarcane per hectare and a sugar yield of eight percent per cane. PT SMS provides seedlings to attract locals to plant sugarcane. In the start-up period last year, the company bought sugar from farmers at Rp 380 per kilogram.
Driving local economy
Djoko said that PT SMS wanted to construct a sugar factory in West Nusa Tenggara to contribute to the economy of the province and of eastern Indonesia, reducing Indonesia’s dependence on imported sugar.
The sugarcane on Tambora still rely on rainfall as there are no sources of irrigation nearby.
Djoko added that another hurdle was that there were not enough people available to harvest the sugarcane and the locals did not have the experience to be good cutters. “A professional cane cutter can cut 1.5 tons to two tons per day. The locals here can only get 0.4 tons per day,” he said.
The head of the plantation crops division of the Dompu regency\'s agriculture and farming agency, Abdul Khair, said the agency would continue to encourage the expansion of sugarcane plantations. In 2014 and 2015, the Dompu regency administration developed a public 4,087-hectare sugarcane plantation with funding from the Agriculture Ministry.
Currently, Abdul said, the total area of sugarcane plantation in Dompu was about 8,000 hectares. “The Dompu regency administration targets to expand the sugarcane plantation to 20,000 hectares by 2021,” he said.
Farmers’ hope
Before the TSE sugar factory was established, some residents in Pekat district planted cashews. However, after the factory was built, the locals became interested in planting sugarcane and some have made efforts to expand their sugarcane plantations.
Doropeti village sugarcane farmer Muhammad Khadafi, 35, said that he currently had seven hectares of sugarcane. “Last year, I only had four hectares,” he said.
Nevertheless, Khadafi said that he hoped PT SMS would increase the price it paid for sugarcane. “Last year, our sugarcane was bought at Rp 380 per kilogram. We had to bear the cutting and transportation costs. It was heavy for us,” he said.
According to Khadafi, he got about Rp 31 million from his sugarcane last year. However, he still had to cover the operational costs and pay back loans to companies. His net income was only Rp 16 million.
On the other hand, there are still locals with doubts about sugarcane’s prospects. Doropeti local Sasmita, 33, said that he was unconvinced that the commodity would provide him with an adequate income. “Even though many of my neighbors had switched to cultivating sugarcane, I am still cultivating cashews. I want to see first whether the sugarcane my neighbors planted have good results,” he said.
Another Doropeti resident, Syahrul, 41, said that he planted and harvested sugarcane on two hectares last year. However, Syahrul is reluctant to plant sugarcane again as the price was low.
“Last year, I only got Rp 8 million from harvesting sugarcane from two hectares of land. I had to cover the maintenance and cutting costs. I only took home Rp 700,000,” he said.
Syahrul added that he chose to cultivate cashews as the commodity is more promising. From a two-hectare cashew plantation, he could get a net income of between Rp 20 million and Rp 25 million.
Hopefully the presence of a sugar factory in Dompu will not be a “bitter” experience for locals.
