The Jambi Provincial Government (Pemprov) encourages areca nut products to become a leading export commodity. Areca nut is a monocot plant belonging to the palms. People in Indonesia have long known it as an alternative or herbal medicine, both for health and beauty.
Countries in South Asia and other Southeast Asia such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Nepal also use areca nut as a raw material for medicines, herbal sweets, and snacks. By making it a leading export commodity, it will have an impact in opening new jobs and improving the economy of Jambi community.
Jambi is one of the areca-producing provinces in addition to West Sumatra, Riau, North Sumatra and Aceh. The area of areca nut plantations in Jambi Province in 2021 is about 28,255 hectares. At the end of 2020, the total export of betel nut products in Jambi Province was recorded at 60 thousand tons with a value of IDR 1.1 trillion. In 2021, from January to September, the export of areca nut products increase to 67 thousand tons with a value of IDR 1.7 trillion.
In terms of production, the largest betel nut producers with the best quality in Jambi Province are Tanjung Jabung Barat Regency and Tanjung Jabung Timur Regency. So that the areca nut is one of the province’s leading export products.
It has become a possibility for areca nut to become one of the leading commodities from agriculture, in several European countries such as the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium that using areca nut to meet the needs of expatriates from South Asian countries.
Jambi Provincial Government continues to synergize with district and city governments throughout Jambi in develop all commodities, including areca nut. From planting to production to marketing. Areca nut from Indonesia is in great demand, where 80 percent of the world’s needs are exported from Indonesia and Jambi Province contributes 34.53 percent of the total national exports.
–sh
