JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry continues to encourage the porang processing industry to produce various derivative products with high added value. This downstream effort needs to be supported by the use of modern technology and the use of research activities in order to create competitive product innovations.
“The strategies we will implement include technology injection and strengthening R&D and human resources. This step is believed to be able to provide a broad multiplier effect for the national economy, both in terms of foreign exchange contributions through investment and exports as well as the absorption of a large number of workers," said the Director General of Agro Industry at the Ministry of Industry, Putu Juli Ardika in Jakarta, Thursday (14/7).
Putu stated that one of the innovations being developed is that porang can be used as a supporting material for the manufacture of valuable paper and cigarette paper. These valuable paper products are used for, among others, diploma paper, passport books, marriage books and special archive papers.
“Through the collaboration of research results, it was found that porang can produce auxiliary materials for the manufacture of valuable paper and cigarette paper with better quality and long durability. In fact, the strength of his paper can exceed the age of a human. So, it means that if the person has died, the school diploma will still be intact,” he explained.
"From the results of this innovation, we are optimistic that we can optimize the use of domestic products and support the import substitution program," he added. Moreover, Indonesia has many porang-producing areas, from Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, to West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.
One of the work units within the Ministry of Industry, namely the Center for Standardization and Services for the Cellulose Industry (BBSPJIS), is ready to support the potential use of glucomannan flour in the paper industry. BBSPJIS stated that the paper industry is the biggest user of starch additives. So far, the starch used by the paper industry comes from tapioca flour, guar gum, and CMC (carboxy methyl cellulose). (LM)