griculture Minister and National Food Agency (Bapanas) head Amran Sulaiman said agriculture had become the largest contributor to the country’s gross domestic product, with agricultural exports surging 42.19 percent compared to the previous year.
“Our GDP contribution from agriculture is the highest, at 13.83 percent, and that was conveyed by the finance minister during the hearing at the House of Representatives,” Amran said during a press conference on Wednesday at the Agriculture Ministry office, outlining a series of achievements in the agricultural sector during President Prabowo’s first year in office.
According to Amran, the increase in exports was supported by strong global demand for coconuts and products made from them such as coconut milk and virgin coconut oil (VCO).
The sharp rise in coconut prices, he said, was driven by changing consumer preferences in various regions of the world.
“Coconut prices suddenly rose from Rp 1,300 [less than 1 US cent] per kg to Rp 1,350 and then jumped to between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000. There’s a shift in consumption patterns in China, India and Europe. It’s about coconut milk and VCO, because they’re healthy. People are switching from dairy to coconut milk,” he explained.
He added that President Prabowo had underscored the importance of downstream processing of agricultural produce to boost export value.
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Under this approach, coconuts would be processed and packaged into higher-value products rather than being exported in raw form.