Agricom.id, JAKARTA – Ministry of Agriculture runs the coordinative ways to develop the paddy milling in the Komando Strategi Penggilingan Padi (Kostraling). Kostraling made by Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) is to bridge the agriculture products from the producers to the consumers and also to mobilize the Kostraling to get capital from kredit usaha rakyat (KUR)

Following up this, ministry of agriculture did coordination meeting virtually on Wednesday (22/7) by inviting Persatuan Pengusaha Penggilingan Padi dan Beras (Perpadi), coordinator ministry in economy, the plantation agencies in the province and district, the banks. It was directly led by SYL.

He said that corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic is positive for the agriculture to remain exist. That is why the milling should run better because agriculture is the promising business in the pandemic.

“I believed that the milling business now and in the future would have better prospect. I need that the Kostraling starts to develop the concept, management from the upstream to downstream, increase the human resources, support the markets and the off-taker partners. Kostraling is the place for the milling to be in better class. We need to change this in phase,” he said in the meeting.

He also told that Kostraling should not function as the milling but also as the buffer stock. But in each sub district, it needs to be strong within good storage. “It needs good strategy because it needs bank acceleration,” he said, as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

General Director of Food Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture, Suwandi did hope that the agenda in the meeting would give the mechanism description to get KUR. The target and absorption run well and could be the place to discuss every issue in the field. By 18 July the KUR had been realized to food plantation sub-sector reaching Rp 7 billion got by 320 thousand customers.

"It is about 31 percent to absorb and we hope that 18 thousands milling could be empowered to absorb the farmers’ grain. It needs capital for the factories and to multiply the storage capacity,” he said.

Chairman of Persatuan Penggilingan Padi Indonesia (Perpadi), Sutarto Alimoeso said that the nowadays condition is that many paddy millings are in micro and small scale level. There are 9.712 small millings within 5 to 19 men of workers; and 149.594 milling micro scale within 1 to 4 of workers.

Of the data, he continued, the micro and small millings have weak technical management and need to revitalize both in the management, configuration, and tools which need capital and market places.

“For all these years, the revitalization runs in phase but the commercial financing is the issue. KUR may be essential to accelerate the paddy milling revitalization. There would be advantages, such as, the loss result decreasing, increase the yield, increase the efficiency and quality that would increase the production nationally,” he said.

He also thought that the cooperation from the upstream to downstream sectors (the farmers to the milling) is needed to increase the production and price stability. Perpadi is proud of the policy published by Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo to provide space to increase thee food production.

“On behalf of the members of Perpadi we thank Minister Syahrul and his officer. It needs to develop the paddy milling as un-separated part to increase the food production,” he said.

In the meeting, Head of Banks, Coordinator Ministry in Economy, Eni Widiyanti who observes KUR to the milling for some time thought that the milling is better to be used to revitalize the dryer because most of them (the small scale) have no good dryer system.

“We did meeting in the coordinator ministry in economy and agreed that KUR is not for the big companies but for the micro and small level. About the period, KUR could be paid up to 3 years to be efficient and effective,” she said.

“We do hope that the ecosystem management from the upstream to downstream sectors should take PT. Bulog, the stakeholders to cooperate,” she said.

In the meeting, many representatives of the banks attended, starting from Bank Mandiri, BRI and BNI. Abdi of BRI mentioned that at the principles, the banks fully support the KUR to Kostraling. He thought that the phase needs data support to verify and do survey in the first place, socialize the intensive about KUR, and improve the farmers’ institution by the related instances.

“It is important to review the available infrastructure data, the development and the same operational monitoring,” he said.

Amir, the representative of Perpadi South Sulawesi said that the numbers to paddy milling development in the region reached Rp 500 million and it is not the big numbers to the capital and revitalization. He hoped that the budget could be more, up to Rp 1 billion for the small business.

"Besides, there is a regulation that those who get KUR could not get other KUR. This needs to re-consider,” he said. (A2)