Agricom.id, JAKARTA – The commemoration of the 75th Independence-day of Indonesia is the right and good moment to make the agriculture as the front guard of defense and know the breakthrough programs of ministry of agriculture. The agriculture is the only sector that helps the economy nationally in the Covid-19 pandemic namely in Indonesia.
According to central bureau of statistic, in the second quarter of 2020, the agriculture was the highest sector contributing to the economy nationally reaching about 16,24 percent (q to q). As a matter of fact, Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet and some other sectors did decrease when the economic progress of Indonesia got decreasing up to 4,19 percent (q to q) and 5,32 percent (y-o-y).
Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) said that one factor that increasing the work was thee successful planting season to produce though Covid-19 still hits. One factor that increased the agriculture is the strategic program to transform the self-production model or no corporate model to be corporate one.
“The agricultural corporate is inevitability that the industries present in one wide overlay or grouping one cluster (region),” he said in Jakarta, Sunday (16/8/2020) as in the official written statement to Agricom.id.
The government is developing the agricultural corporate within food estate model in Central Kalimantan and North Sumatera and would be developed in other regions. Just like what President Joko Widodo told, the food estate is about to strengthening the food stocks nationally not only in the upstream but also in the downstream, involve the synergy among the government, private, and the people.
“It would not be done manually but by modern technology and advantaging the digital system. It is not only for the domestic markets but also international ones,” SYL said.
The food plantations since 2019 have been running Propaktani (program pengembangan korporasi tanaman pangan) by making komando strategis penggiling (Kostraling) and sentra pelayanan pertanian padi terpadu (SP3T). The government would give not only the infrastructure helps but also the capital helps through kredit usaha rakyat (KUR).
General Director of Food Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture, Suwandi told that the first principle in the corporate is the management approach within the wide overlay scale. It should not be one overlay reaching 5.000 hectares but could be in groups based on the sub region or cluster for about 500 hectares in 10 spots totally to be 5.000 hectares.
“The corporate system has been tested since last year in some locations, such as, in Tuban, Lampung, South Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Yogyakarta, Central Java, and others. The results are good. In this year, it would be replicated in 130 districts," he said.
The second principle, he continued, is the integrated farming within the supporting commodities and the main commodity, for example, the corn corporate in Lombok Timur could involve 81 farmers’ groups.
"Every member has its off taker so that they could propose to get KUR and make partnership with the seeds, fertilizers companies, and PT. Jasindo,” he said.
He also mentioned that Propaktani is the on-farm integrated program from the upstream, derivative downstream until the marketing. The integrated programs consist of infrastructure, the agriculture machines, the cultivation starting from the planting until the harvest and post-harvest to the marketing. Not only that, the institutions of groups should get the better class, such as, to be cv, union, or village enterprises.
“The important institution is the management of good coordinators. This is needed by gathering every stakeholder to share, inform to strengthen the institution,” he said.
The next thing, he continued, is it needs synergy in the Propaktani with the finance, investment, and export. The cluster and region should advantage the available location, should manage and optimize the sources of fund both independently, from KUR, or others.
“If the food has the strong basic, our country’s defense would be better. In the commemoration moment of our independence-day, it is the time for every people to help and develop the agriculture within modern and corporate ways so that our agriculture gets stronger in any challenge,” Suwandi said. (A2)
