Agricom.id, JAKARTA – The government through ministry of agriculture made the breakthrough to increase the planting index and productivity in the production centers to realize the food self-sufficiency namely the rice by providing the superior seeds, the organic fertilizer, improving the irrigation, and other agricultural mechanism.

The member of Commission IV, Indonesian Legislators, Charles Meikyansah menilai thought that preparing the agriculture tools is the breakthrough that plays the strategic roles to increase the efficient works, planting intensity, and the farmers’ additional values. The allocation of agricultural tools helps from 2014-2019 reached 450 thousand tolls within about Rp 12 billion.

“For the big budged, it needs development to use the tools, namely in the maintenance to anticipate the damage knowing that the tools have the limited time in usage. The workshop of agriculture tools through UPJA (Unit Pengelola Jasa Alsintan) is the smart way and we support it,” he said in Jakarta.

He also thought that the workshop should exist knowing that many production centers got the tools and it needs maintenance, service, spare parts to their continuity. The workshop managed by UPJA or groups is the right way to do to get the additional income and to realize the food self-sufficiency.

“To facilitate tools service in the remote areas, it needs to have mobile workshop. It needs development too. The plan was that the location of the workshop would be in 32 locations (provinces) just like the tools distribution in 2014-2015. But knowing that the agriculture priority, of the 32 provinces, the focus would be 18 ones,” he said.

He also mentioned that the budget would be Rp 723 million per spot to construct the storage, workshop, and the tools (spare parts).

“It really needs to construct the warehouses because many UPJA in the villages have not building still. It is hoped the storage would be useful for the UPJA too,” he said.

He also mentioned that UPJA is the economic institution in the village which does service to optimize the agriculture tools to get the business profits both in and out of the groups. It is also hoped that the workshop managed by UPJA could get, at least, two profits, such as, the guarantee of continuity of the tool usage and the source of income besides renting the tools.

“The point is that the workshop of the agriculture tools would cover the equipment, the service, the tools to service, and the other supporting tools. The criteria of the location and the candidates to get the workshop should be in the agricultural production centers in some districts in Indonesia and have will to advantage, manage, optimize the helps, and be responsible to take care of the workshop they would get,” he told. (A2)