Agricom.id, JAKARTA – Ministry of Agriculture through Badan Penyuluhan dan Pengembangan Sumber Daya Manusia Pertanian (BPPSDMP) prioritized the infrastructure supports for the agriculture counselors to increase their contribution to develop the farmers. The roles of the counselors really determine to increase the production and the welfare of the farmers, and transform the knowledge to develop the agriculture in digital – base or 4.0 tech.

“The infrastructures for the counselors, such as, vehicles, facilities in Kostratani (Komando Strategis Pembangunan Pertanian,-red) should be available in balai penyuluhan pertanian (BPP) in every sub district. The output of the increasing infrastructures is to make the counselors productive and increase the productivity and increase the income of the farmers,” Head of per BPPSDMP, Ministry of Agriculture, Prof. Dedi Nursyamsi said when getting the visit of Head of Food Plantation and Horticulture Agency, District of Tolitoli, Rustan Rewa to make coordination to increase the roles of the counselors in the Kostratani program, Jakarta, Tuesday (17/3/2020), as in the official statement to Agricom.id recently.

Dedi also explained that the programs in Kostratani need the increasing infrastructure for the counselors or BPP, such as, improving the office of BPP, operational vehicles, the device of information and technology. Besides it would strengthen or increase the capacity of the agriculture counselors through the thematic training, and the counseling in the villages and increase the agriculture counseling.

“So the execution of Kostratani should be from BPP, it would function as the data and information center, the center of learning for the counselors and the farmers, the center to develop the agriculture, the center of agribusiness consultation, and partnership network. BPP would be the center of excellence of every agriculture activity.

“By Kostratani every function in the sub districts would play their role, not only the counselors but also others, such as, those who deal with health of agriculture, who manage the water system, who deal with the plantation disease organism, veterinarian, veterinarian paramedic, the agricultural system tools, the army and the police.

Head of Food Plantation and Horticulture Agency, District of Tolitoli, Rustan Rewa said that the infrastructure priority through the programs in Kostratani meet with the needs to accelerate the agriculture development. The counselors are the spears that the agricultural business is successful or not and the factors to increase the farmers’ income.

“As the government officer who was the counselor, I agree and thank for the attention that Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo has done by prioritizing the roles of the counselors. There have been complaints about the infrastructures. The increasing infrastructures for them would be the good ones to develop the agriculture,” he said.

So he emphasized that the regional government is ready to succeed the programs in Kostratani to face the demography bonus. The narrower agriculture area would need the counselors to take the farmers to do farming modernly and independently so that our agriculture would go forward.

“The counselors in Tolitoli are very happy for the central government focuses to increase the work of the counselors. We believed, the counselors maximally work, the production would increase and the income of the farmers would be too,” he said. (A2)