Agricom.id, NORTH MINAHASA - Minister of Agriculture, Yasin Limpo boosted to develop the soybean, corn, coconut, nutmeg, and clove in North Sulawesi Province. The goal is to increase the production and volume nationally so that the agriculture gets better influence to the economy nationally in the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also said that ministry of agriculture would do everything to increase the production to realize the corn, soybean self-sufficiency and others in the province to multiply the needs nationally, such as, by giving the production infrastructures – pre and post – harvest tools, urging the farmers to get kredit usaha rakyat (KUR), and developing the agriculture in cluster and corporate – base.

"The other important thing to do is by developing the superior seeds within high productivity. We need to increase the productivity to get surplus, and minimize the imports but increase the exports. Do not depend on the imports. Let us prepare the food from North Sulawesi,” SYL said in the planting and harvesting corn – coconut integrated plantation and harvest corn in Village of Tonstalete, Sub district of Kema, district of North Minahasa, Sunday (30/8/2020) as in the official written statement to Agricom.id.

The Commander XIII Merdeka, Major General Army Santos Matondang; Regional Secretary of North Sulawesi Province, Edwin Silangen; Regent of North Minahasa, Vonnie Anneke; and the officers in echelon I in ministry of agriculture attended the event.

SYL also explained that besides increasing the production, ministry of agriculture would develop the downstream sectors as the real solution to guarantee the profitable price for the farmers because the soybean could be processed to kinds of higher value – products.

“That is why it needs to develop the partnership between the industries and the farmers to get the certain markets and the farmers should advantage kredit usaha rakyat (KUR) and not depend on the government’s helps only,” he said.

Regional Secretary of North Sulawesi, Edwin Silangen did appreciate the agricultural development because the agriculture is the mainstay to economic security in the Covid-19 pandemic. The data from central bureau of statistic revealed that per July 2020, the agriculture developed 24,1 percent (month-to-month) nationally.

"In North Sulawesi, in the second quarter of 2020, the agriculture business developed 2 percent. The agriculture could postpone the decreasing economy in general. Thank you, Minister SYL for your attention by coming here. It is fabulous. In the last six months, you have been here for twice,” he said.

General Director of Food Plantations, Ministry of agriculture, Suwandi said that in 2020 ministry of agriculture would allocate to develop the soybean nationally for about 120.000 hectares (ha), such as, in North Sulawesi reaching 6.153 ha and in 2021 it would be double within corporate model for about 30.000 hectares and the other investors would support it. North Sulawesi would develop 50 ha of peanut, 500 ha of green bean, and 350 ha of cassava.

"What Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo told is that the production should increase. To increase the soybean productivity, which reaches 1,4 tons per hectares to be 2 tons or 3 tons per hectares, the help package would be completed by rhizobium, liquid natural fertilizers, and herbicides based on the technology doze, and also bio-soy seeds,” he said.

Meanwhile, General Director of Plantation, Ministry of agriculture, Kasdi Subagyono said that the helps from ministry of agriculture to support the plantation commodity regional development would be nutmeg, and clove.

“Besides the seeds, ministry of agriculture would give helps, such as, the post-harvest tools, the integrated pest control too. We have to realize the corporate region – base,” he said.

The total helps to develop the agriculture in 2020 in North Sulawesi Province would be Rp 136,86 billion to develop corn which covers 98.132 ha, soybean covering 6.153 ha, mainstay seeds of ‘genjah’ coconut covering 25.000 stalks, ‘kelapa dalam’ covering 477.600 stalks, nutmeg covering 431.250 stalks, clove covering 85.800 stalks, and develop the main nutmeg plantation covering 2 ha in North Minahasa. (A2)