Agricom.id, KENDAL – District of Kendal keeps producing soybean though the corona virus (Covid-19) still hits. Some field officers in Sub district of Kangkung, District of Kendal showed the soybean areas of Rukun group to harvest.

The field officer, Supanti showed that the 22 hectare soybean areas would produce dry soybean Grobogan for about 46,2 tons.

"The cassava result showed that the productivity could be 2,1 tons per hectare and normally, it is sold about Rp. 8.000 per kilogram," she said in the office of Plantation Agency, District of Kendal, Monday (13/4/2020) as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

Supanti who always develops the farmers explained that the harvests are usually sold directly to the tofu and tempeh producers in the district.

“We usually sell it around here. We always do in every single year,” she said.

She also confessed that the agriculture counselors in the sub districts are in spirit to serve the farmers in this situation – the epidemic of Covid-19. The farmers here are also in spirit to produce the food material that the people need.

She continued that in the agriculture activity when the Covid-19 still hits, she always reminded that the farmers should be in social distancing and physical distancing.

“We also asked them not to gather and take distance at least 1 to 2 meters, and suggested them to use masker always,” she said.

In the other spot, Director of Nuts and Tuber, Ministry of Agriculture, Amirudin Pohan said that his side always runs the health protocol to Covid-19 when harvest season runs. This is the same with what other farmers in other regions do.

“Besides implementing the health protocol, we do the best to provide the infrastructures of post – harvest,” he said.

He also told that his side and the regional governments, and also the partners to do the best to maintain the domestic food stocks well. He hoped that the people should not worry about the stocks. Based on what Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo told, the food availability, distribution, and price during the pandemic of Covid-19, including the soybean should be in good condition. Soybean is also the food commodity to produce nutrients for the people.

“This is the lead of General Director of Food Plantation, Suwandi. Ministry of agriculture tries the best to guarantee the food availability and the distribution to the consumers,” he said.

For information, District of Kendal is one soybean producer in Central Java province and in every single year, the district could produce 10% of the total soybean production. In 2019, the district harvested soybean for about 723 hectares. This year in April, it is predicted the district would harvest for about 60 hectares of soybean in Sub districts of Kangkung and Patean. (A2)