Agricom.id, JAKARTA – National Coffee Day should become the consolidation facing the issue in the world, Corona virus (Covid – 19). Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo told that in the commemoration of National Coffee Day in Auditorium, Gedung F, Ministry of Agriculture, Wednesday (11/3/2020).

“The nowadays challenge in the world and in Indonesia is Covid – 19. How could this intervene hardly every sector of life, and delay every business in the world,” he said, as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

The National Coffee Day was commemorated by some coffee producers, such as, South Sulawesi, Riau, South Sumatera, West Java, and East Java.

“How do you do? Hopefully this morning we could start together, make the coffee from Indonesia as the mainstay one in the world. We have to prepare it, starting from the areas, superior seeds, the good researches, the good cultivation, and other process so that the quality could become the best in the world,” he said in the teleconference.

As one mainstay plantation commodity as the source of exchange to the country in 2019, he thought that coffee export reached about US$ 815,9 million within the volume reaching 279,9 thousand tons.

“The coffee from Indonesia should have superiority than others from the coffee producers. It needs to have high taste, namely for Arabica which is claimed as the special coffee. This should be the better sign for the Indonesia’s coffee in the international markets. We have to maintain it and intensively promote,” he said.

Chairman of Dewan Kopi Indonesia (Dekopi), Anton Apriyantono hoped that the commemoration of National Coffee Day 2020 should make the new spirit to unite and consolidate the synergy to develop coffee nationally to be the mainstay in the world.

“It would not happen if the stakeholders (the farmers, the businessmen, the banks, the government, namely, ministry of agriculture) do not support it,” he said.

In this situation, Syahrul said that the agriculture could be the hope.

“We have many experiences. Our agriculture has the good self – defense in every crisis. We need to cooperate, including the senior officers. Help and guide us so that the agriculture could be the pillar of resurrection,” he said.

The National Coffee Day 2020 was held by Dekopi in cooperation with ministry of agriculture, Badan Standarisasi Nasional (BSN). It was attended by many figures, such as, Sjarifuddin and Justika Baharsjah as the former ministers of agriculture; Bayu Krisnamurthi, vice minister of agriculture; head of BSN; vice governor of Bengkulu, the farmers, and the businessmen. (A2)