Agricom.id, PULANG PISAU - Minister of Agriculture,  Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) keeps pushing the regional government, namely in the food estate, Central Kalimantan to make farmers’ corporate, increase the competition, develop the downstream products, increase the farmers’ welfare, and develop the better, more independent, and modern agriculture, namely rice as the strategic commodity and has significant correlation to develop economy nationally.

“The regional government should really work stronger so that the cultivation gets better and the productivity does too but the off-farm should be well prepared too,” SYL said when visiting food estate in Blanti Siam, District of Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan, Wednesday (16/12/20) as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

SYL also mentioned that following up what President Joko Widodo told, developing the farmers’ corporates would be the priority to realize to develop upstream to downstream businesses. The agriculture should be the main pillar of economic development nationally to face the challenges, such as, Covid-19. Agriculture should be the main sector to increase the exports.

“It means that the grain should be put in mill to be rice. Rice should be sold within good package. The package should be in high quality and could be sold nationally and exported in the future,” SYL said.

He also explained that the farmers’ corporate would develop the spirit of millennial generations to do better, innovative, and competitive farming. Food estate development in Central Kalimantan should be the power of every element namely the young generations to make the agriculture tougher for the nation.

He also said that developing the corporate in the future would have wider dimension. It would not only manage the production chain process within modern technology, cultivation, post-harvest, and marketing management, but would create the derivative products of available commodities.

“What I do, dear regent, and governor is to think how the corporate could make derivative products from rice, for instance, chemical, oil, flour, and powder. We could create these by making additional values to welfare the farmers and increase the economy,” he said.

General Director of Food Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture, Suwandi told that his side runs Program Propaktani (Program Pengembangan Korporasi Tanaman Pangan) to increase the farmer’s corporates. They could increase the production and realize the modern technology to give added values for them, namely in the food estate.

It runs in some location, such as, in Tuban, Demak, Lampung, South Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Lombok, and other and in this year, it would be replicated in 130 districts. There have been 21 corporates in 21 districts. The farmers’ corporate is the real thing for the government to anticipate and stabilize the farmers’ selling pirce because they should sell not in the form of grain but rice.

“In harvest season, they would get profitable guarantee because they would sell it not cheaper than what the government decided. The other is that the middlemen would not determine the price anymore,” he said.

He also mentioned that Ministry of Agriculture is developing Program Komando Strategi Penggilingan (Kostraling) in the food estate, Pulang Pisau. The helps covered rice milling unit (RMU) to group of Sumber Makmur in Village of Blanti Siam, Sub district of Pandih Batu; the dryer within capacity10 tons/day and RMU within capacity 1,1 tons/hour complete by grader and packaging

"RMU in District of Pulang Pisau reached 120 units which consist of two units of big RMU and 118 units of small RMU. The grain price is in good for the farmers reaching Rp 5.300 per kilogram for milled dry grain and rice is Rp 8.700 per kilogram. The product has brand ‘Konco Tani’," he said. (A2)