The farmers work 17,870 shrimp ponds covering some 16,030 hectares of land in Lampung that is owned by Aruna Wijaya Sakti, formerly known as PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja -- which was once the biggest shrimp producer in Southeast Asia.
Under the agreement, CP Prima, under the supervision of Aruna, will apply its technology to boost shrimp production in the farmers' ponds, and the farmers in return will sell their produce directly to the firm, thereby increasing its exports of frozen shrimp, said operations director Mahar Sembiring.
The agreement also incorporates international standard operating procedures for sustainable and optimum shrimp farm production, he added.
"We believe that this agreement will benefit both sides as it provides commercial certainty," he said.
Indonesian Association of Fisheries Enterprises chairman Herwindo echoed Mahar's view, saying that the partnership would increase CP Prima's frozen shrimp exports and improve the incomes of shrimp farmers.
He said the agreement would also benefit the government through increased exports and employment.
CP Prima, the biggest integrated shrimp producer in the world and Indonesia's market leader in shrimp fry, shrimp feed and fish-feed production, acquired the former Dipasena through a tender in May.
Besides Aruna Wijaya Sakti, CP Prima has two other subsidiaries engaged in the same business in Lampung -- PT Central Pertiwi Bahari and PT Wachyuni Mandira (WM).
It now has 50,000 hectares devoted to shrimp farms and provides more than 38,000 jobs, including 12,500 full-time jobs.
In mid-November, CP Prima signed a similar partnership agreement with local shrimp farmers grouped under WM, which also involved what is known in Indonesia as a nucleus-plasma scheme (the company being the nucleus, the farmers the plasma).
Further Reading
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- Go to our previous news item on CP Prima developments by clicking here. |