Revitalizing Indonesia’s Sugar Industry: Unveiling the Potential of Sago as a Catalyst for National Sugar Self Sufficiency in the Future

Sago, the other source of sugar production need to be pursued in Indonesia, as Indonesia is highly dependent on sugar cane. This study aimed to analyze the production of liquid sugar based on sago by enzymatic method. The characteristics of liquid sugar made from sago has met with the standard provisions of Indonesian National Standard (SNI 01-2978992) except for the parameter of color. However, the color of sago liquid sugar is acceptable to consumers and market. The liquid sugar produced from sago could reach 0.6 to 0.8 liters per kg. If the sago is obtained from around 50,000 hectares of sago plantations and converted into liquid sugar, then around 600,000 kiloliters of sugar will be produced, or equivalent to 27% of the total national sugar production. The feasibility study showed that the sago liquid sugar business was profitable, which might be seen from the BCR value of 1.16, NPV Rp 58,754,955.64, PBP of 2 years 11 months, and IRR of 34.73%. Even though sago has a great potential, but the development still faces various problems such as unproper sago cultivation, difficulty to access sago land, limited mastery of farmer technology, and unestablished farmer institutions.