Agricom.id, MUBA - Ministry of agriculture did quick response to the pest attack for making thousands hectares of paddy field fail in District of Musi Banyuasin, South Sumatera. Ministry of agriculture and Balai Proteksi Tanaman Pangan dan Hortikultura (BPTPH) of South Sumatera sent the plant disturbing organism (PDO) officers to put the rats down.

Based on the monitoring result of the PDO officers, the rat attacks took place in Sub district of Lalan.

Head of BPTPH, South Sumatera, Tuti Murti said that the rat attacks in the paddy fields in the sub district covering 354 hectares. The farmers and the PDO officers have controlled it since in the early of June.

“We have controlled it for some times and the locations where the rat attacked start to harvest,” she said in Palembang, Monday (13/7/2020) as in the official written statement to Agricom.id.

She also explained that the rat attacks in the paddy field in the sub district were in 12 villages, such as, Karangsari, Karang Agung, Galih Sari, Madya Mulya, Prumpung Raya, Karang Rejo, Karang Makmur, Karang Mukti, Suka Jadi, Sri Gading, Purwa Agung, dan Karang Tirta. The attacks did not reach hundreds of hectares.

“By the facts, we question why the news broadcasted that the rat attacks made thousand hectares of paddy field fail in District of Musi Banyuasin. The attacks are in Sub district of Lalan to the Paddy Index Plantation (IP) 200,” Tuti said.

The planting schedule in the location should be postponed and the growth was interrupted for the pyrite ingredient in the location was too much and made the paddy bad and even dead. The farmers were not eager to nurse too and they tend to let it grow by itself, namely in Village of Galih Sari because of the distance from their home.

“This makes the paddy attacked by the rats and it got worse,” she said.

She also said that the paddy attacked by the rats in the end of May 2020 was seen by the local PDO officers and they controlled it with the farmers.

“Until now we still do gropyokan and kill the rats massively. To support this, the government is ready to help and prepare the control tools, such as, rodentisida and things to kill,” she said.

In the other place, General Director of Food Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture, Suwandi urged the PDO and development officers, such as, the counselors and mantri tani to develop and guide the farmers to secure the paddy until it is in harvest. Based on what Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo told, the food production, namely paddy should be safe in any condition and ministry of agriculture is ready to help.

“In the control tools, ministry of agriculture is ready to prepare, such as, the antidote, and others,” he said.

Director of Food Plantation Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Edi Purnawan said that to control the rat attack in the food plantation, ministry of agriculture would fully monitor the controls. It should be done in the same time continuously.

He also mentioned that the fast response from the paddy stakeholders in South Sumatera and the officers in ministry of agriculture is the same with what Minister  Syahrul Yasin Limpo told that every officer in ministry of agriculture from the central to the regional should actively help the farmers to secure the paddy production from rat attacks and others which threaten the food production nationally.

“To solve the rat attacks, Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo ordered the officers in ministry of agriculture from the central to the regional to be active in developing the farmers and with other stakeholders to control the pests to secure our food production,” he said. (A2)