Participants in the pepper industry, especially households, were reminded not to be too complacent in the context of the strong global price growth of this commodity.
Introducing new book at IPC Conference – Kuching, Malaysia
Plant and Commodity Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas noted that the shortage of supply while increasing demand contributed to the current price rise, about USD 5,500 / ton for black pepper. , equivalent to RM 17,600 (Malaysian Ringgit).
“This trend is also reflected in the domestic market where the farm gate price is currently at 5,470 USD / ton (RM 17,500) black pepper and USD 8,750 / ton (RM 28,000) white pepper.
“However, there is a need to address the concerns of pepper growers, as the majority of farmers in the producing countries that are primarily involved in this benefit are households. One of the big challenges is that production costs are rising due to rising prices of fertilizers, many crop diseases and climate change, all affecting yields, ”said Uggah. in an opening speech at the 41st Annual Meeting of the International Pepper Community (IPC) in Kuching, Malaysia on 11 November.
In addition, Uggah also stressed the scarcity of pepper land as a major factor affecting the Malaysian pepper industry.
“The government, through the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB), aims to increase the area of pepper farms from 14,000 hectares to 20,000 hectares by 2020.
“However, the land is currently very scarce. As such, participants in the pepper industry, especially households, must find ways to increase productivity and at the same time, diversify their crops.
“As for the MPB, the Government hopes that the Board will work closely with pepper farmers, especially in managing cost control, finding new varieties and solving disease problems.”
Despite this, the Minister assured the farmers that the Government recognized the importance of this item but still small scale.
Currently, about 67,000 people are involved in the Malaysian pepper industry.
“In this context, the Government has provided grants to households to improve productivity and replanting in ineffective areas.”
Regarding the prospects of the pepper market, Uggah is also MPB vice president, was very optimistic.
“As a politician, I definitely want pepper prices to keep rising,” he joked. “But I think it must be on sustainability and hopefully it will continue to be so.”
According to him, pepper is still among the major spices traded globally, with a total export turnover of about $ 1.75 billion (more than RM 5.6 billion) last year.
Malaysia, he added, ranked fourth among the six IPC member countries.
“Last year, global pepper production was 32,090 tons, of which 39% came from Vietnam, followed by Indonesia 18%, India 17%, Malaysia 8%, Brazil 13% and Sri Lanka 5%. Overall, IPC members hold 85% of global pepper production and export. ”
In saying so, Douglas proposed for IPC to continue to monitor supply and demand movements in the global pepper market, taking into account the direct effects on prices.
“I congratulate the IPC for having various initiatives to address this issue, I believe that more concrete coordination efforts should be devoted to supply management and price stabilization but at the same time increase consumption. use.
“Each market segment must be fully exploited, both domestically and in large pepper producing countries,” he added.
At the opening ceremony, Uggah also released the book IPC produces good practices and statistics statistics along with IPC President and General Secretary of the Ministry of Commodities and Industrial Plants Datin Paduka Nurmala Abd Rahim.
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