JAKARTA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Transmigration, Viva Yoga Mauladi, said Saturday that the government is prepared to support rubber farmers in increasing productivity and income through cross-sector cooperation and agricultural modernization.
Mauladi said around 2.1 million rubber-farming households across Indonesia, mainly in Sumatra and Kalimantan, rely on the commodity for their livelihoods.
"Rubber has long been a leading export commodity, and Indonesia is the world's second-largest rubber exporter after Thailand," he said, according to state news agency Antara.
According to Mauladi, the government also seeks to promote downstream industrial development based on smallholder rubber plantations to create greater added value and support sustainable growth.
He noted that the sector continues to face structural challenges, with around 90 percent of rubber producers being smallholders. Many plantations require replanting as trees are more than 25 years old and productivity has declined. ■
