Agricom.id, MEMPAWAH – The first harvest in the dry season of 2020 was done Gapoktan Pilar Makmur in Village of Peniti Luar, Sub district of Jongkat, District of Mempawah, West Kalimantan. It was attended by UPT Perlindungan Tanaman Pangan Dan Hortikultura, West Kalimantan Province; Agriculture and Food Security Agency, District of Mempawah; II Climatology  Station, District of Mempawah, Kostratani Team of Sub district of Jongkat and the local officers in the demonstration plot of environmental Pengendalian Organisme Pengganggu Tumbuhan (OPT).

The OPT officer of Sub district of Jongkat, Diky Dwi Cahyono who proposed the demonstration plot said that the making of the plot is as the place to socialize and learn for the farmers that the OPT control could not always use chemical pesticides.

“There are lots of ways to control the pest, gentlemen. It should not use chemical pesticides. This is what we do in this plot,” he said in the harvest, Sunday (13/9/2020) as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

The OPT control done in the 1.000 meter square area were putting on the TBS, the application of environmental trichoderma, metharizium, beauveria bassiana, and the combination of natural pesticides from leaves of soursop and papaya as the substitutions of chemical pesticides. The bulbs produced up to 4,5 tons/hectare (ha).

“We believed that the production could be more but because of the vegetative phase to the generative phase, the fields were full of water for some months, the growth was not maximal,” he said.

Head of Food Plantation and Horticulture, Agriculture Agency, District of Mempawah, Irma Suryaningsih thought that the officers discussed with many sides both the private and others to prevent the flood in the agricultural areas.

“Some instances are cleaning up the big rivers which are assumed as the factors to clog the irrigation in the farmers’ fields,” she said.

Head of UPT Perlindungan Tanaman Pangan dan Hortikultura, West Kalimantan Province, Yuliana Yulinda in her speech was happy and did appreciate the farmers who did organic and environmental OPT control. UPT Perlindungan, TPH West Kalimantan encouraged the farmers to realize the food security, such as, by organic and environmental OPT control.

“We are not anti-chemical pesticide to do but it is the only the last alternative if other ways were not successfully done. We should prioritize the non-chemical control. Besides being environmental, (the usage of organic control) would not leave the residue that endangers the (man’s) health,” she said.

In the harvest, the rice called Galaherang was launched by Gapoktan Pilar Makmur. It was symbolically launched by Agriculture Agency, District of Mempawah.

Yuliana thought that though it is in corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the first harvest run smoothly. The environmental OPT control plot would continue until the next planting for the wider area up to 0,5 H.

"By hoping that the organic and environmental OPT control system could be socialized more and be the pilot project and the learning media for the farmers,” she said,

In the other place, Director of Food Plantation Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Edy Purnawan did appreciate what West Kalimantan Province has done to do environmental OPT control. He thought that it is important to socialize it.

“We have to educate the farmers about the integrated pest control or penerapan pengendalian hama terpadu (PPHT) and it proved that the harvest is as good as it using chemical pesticides. We keep supporting the sustainable and environmental approach massively,” he said.

This is the same with what General Director of Food Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture, Suwandi told that his side would encourage the OPT control in environmental ways.

He also emphasized that the more farmers are aware of the healthy and sustainable cultivation, the better farmers would be. This would encourage the acceleration of better, independent, and modern agriculture.

“This is the same with what Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpot told that the food production should keep producing but it needs to increase the farmers’ economy because they are the spears or our food security,” he told. (A2)