INDONESIA Ultimate in diversity

With more than 17,000 islands supporting 200 ethnic groups with over 300 spoken languages, the archipelago of Indonesia lies between the Pacific and Indian Ocean, bridging the continents of Asia and Australia, a multitude of amazing landscapes and biodiversity stretching along the equator line, a land of endless spectacular wonders!

Indonesia is major producer of a wide range of agricultural tropical products, providing income for the majority of Indonesian households. In 2022, agriculture accounted for 12.4% of the country’s $1.32 trillion GDP, employing approximately 30% of the workforce. Indonesia has a large and steadily growing population, which at more than 276 million, contributes to rising demand for agricultural produce.

Indonesia’s fertile lands and position on the equator allows cultivation of a large number of crops, the most important being rice, maize, cassava, and soya bean, mangoes, onions, chillies, peppers, bananas, and citrus, and the country also has an important plantation sector led by oil palm, rubber, cocoa, coffee, and tea also important.

Indonesia’s agricultural activities are generally determined by the rainy and dry seasons. The main rice crop is typically planted in the rainy season around October to February, followed by a second rice crop in March to June, usually followed by a third crop cycle.

Indonesia the world’s largest producer of palm oil, cloves, and cinnamon, the 2nd largest producer of nutmeg, rubber, cassava, vanilla and coconut oil, the 3rd largest producer of rice and cocoa, the 4th largest producer of coffee, the 5th largest tobacco producer, and the 6th largest producer of tea.

The crop protection market grew 4.5% annually between 2017 and 2022, reaching a value of about $700 million in 2022, driven by higher agrochemical prices and increasing demand for domestically-grown crops, a higher planted area of rice, which increased to 14.8 million hectares and record levels in maize production. An increasingly large population, with 1 million moving into middle class each year, means the demand for better quality food is rising in Indonesia, and this is expected to benefit the agrochemical industry, forecast to be more than $800 million in 2027.