The Opportunity of Lemongrass, Zinger and Turmeric Supported Development of Export Products in North of Sumatera, Indonesia

Indonesia has abundant spices are used for cooking. lemongrass, ginger, and turmeric are the most widely used plants as spices in cooking which serve to enhance taste and preservative of food. In the North of Sumatra, UD. Ryori Indonesia and Mitra Tani, both of Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s) as a partner of Universitas Sumatera Utara produces spices and vegetables especially, lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, celery, onion, garlic, and instant dried spices which are exported to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines and Singapore. This export funded by export-import grant of Ministry of Research, Technology, Directorate General of Higher Education Indonesia activity was carried out for 6 months (January to June 2018) through Belawan harbor, North of Sumatera with the highest export amount of lemongrass (7,305.80 kg), followed by ginger (7,297.63 kg), and turmeric (6,372.63 kg). The identified problems of import-export activities of dry seasoning from North of Sumatra are the availability of limited and fluctuating sources of raw materials (quantity, quality and price); production process using simple technology; as well as the distribution of marketing and business management is still conventional. The solutions offered to SMe’s partners are intensification of planting land of lemongrass, ginger and turmeric; compile the design and production of citric slicing machine, make Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) in accordance with the machine to be held; and design packaging that can maintain product quality. The seasoning of exports has met the standard of product that is produced: organoleptic standard (color, aromatic, texture and taste); chemical standards (moisture content=7-8%); and free of microbiology (coliform and salmonella microorganisms) with supervision. this contribution is expected to encourage the development of horticultural agribusiness, particularly competitive spice dry season and increase the income of farmers and entrepreneurs in North of Sumatra.