Pamekasan, City of Tobacco Production Center in Indonesia
Indonesia Success Golden – Pamekasan Regency, East Java, besides being known as the largest salt producing center in Madura, East Java is also a center for tobacco production. Developed on Madura Island, function and use of chopped Madura tobacco for cigarette raw materials and a small part for fringe.
The main characteristic of chopped tobacco for cigarettes is that the base of the leaves sits down and the leaves are thinner than tobacco for fringes. The development area was established in two districts, namely Parnekasan and Sumenep (Anonirn, 1989a).
Currently, Madura tobacco that is being developed as a raw material for cigarettes is the varieties released by Balittas, namely Prancak 95 and Cangkring 95. The advantage of Madura tobacco is that its water content is not too high, so the aroma is stronger than similar tobacco from outside Madura.
In Madura every year at least the projected tobacco plants will reach 48 thousand hectares with a total production of 18 thousand tons of chopped tobacco.
Almost all major tobacco companies in Indonesia, have the power to buy tobacco in Pamekasan. For example PT Gudang Garam, PT Sampoerna, PT Nojorono, PT Wismilak, PT Sukun Malang, PT Djarum, PT Bentoel and several other cigarette factories. That doesn’t include the local cigarette factory in Pamekasan.
Tobacco developed in Pamekasan is suitable as the main raw material for cigarettes, especially keretek cigarettes.
The prancak 95 variety and the cangkring variety are semi-aromatic tobacco varieties which have a pleasant aroma and are suitable for the main ingredient in keretek. Two varieties are cultivated by Madura farmers, the prancak 95 variety for upland land, while the cangkring variety for lowland land.
In East Java, there are several areas producing aromatic tobacco. Among them Paiton (Probolinggo), Besuki and Kayumanis (Situbondo), Tambeng (Bondowoso) and Jenggawah (Jember).
However, tobacco from these areas will only be used as a mixture of cigarette concoctions, while the main ingredient will still use Madura tobacco.
The condition of the land in Madura is mostly rain-fed land which strongly supports the cultivation of aromatic tobacco, which emphasizes aroma as well as taste. Moreover, most of the planting area uses rocky hilly soil which is the result of its production known as mountain tobacco.
That is why, most farmers in Madura still rely on tobacco as the main crop before the dry season. They will use the remaining rainwater deposits in the reservoirs or infiltration wells to water the shots.
Tobacco types of prancak and cangkring are stored in dry chopped form, the longer they are stored the stronger the aroma, and the more expensive the price.
In addition, the land used must have sufficient water content, while most of the agricultural land in Madura is rain-fed land with moderate water content.
Madura tobacco, the prancak and cangkring varieties which are semi-aromatic tobacco types, are still a mainstay in tobacco cultivation in Pamekasan Madura.
