PT Pupuk Indonesia Will Develop 1000 Non-subsidized Fertilizer Kiosk

Marketing Director of Pupuk Indonesia, Gusrizal (center) during an interview with journalists in Surabaya, Friday (18-3-2022). (Photo: ANTARA/Malik Ibrahim)

JAKARTA - PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) will develop special commercial kiosks to meet farmers' needs for non-subsidized fertilizers, with an initial target of 1,000 kiosks and gradually being fulfilled.

Marketing Director of Pupuk Indonesia, Gusrizal in Surabaya, Saturday said, currently there are only a combined kiosk that sells subsidized and non-subsidized fertilizers, which amount to around 8,000 kiosks.

The development of non-subsidized kiosks, said Gusrizal, is needed to deny allegations that Pupuk Indonesia bundles the existence of subsidized fertilizers in the existing combined kiosks.

In addition, the existence of non-subsidized kiosks in the future will also be needed to get closer to farmers, as well as support the national program to encourage the absorption of non-subsidized fertilizers.

"For joint kiosks, we are not developing any more, because in the future what is needed is non-subsidized fertilizer, and there is already a limited allocation," he said as quoted by Antara.

He explained that the existence of non-subsidized kiosks would also eliminate the stigma that farmers are forced to buy subsidized fertilizers at non-subsidized price levels.

"Development of non-subsidized kiosks is a new program, and does not yet exist. Therefore, at the initial stage we will develop as many as 1,000 kiosks first," he said.

Previously, Gusrizal's visit to Surabaya was to collaborate with PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) Group in targeting sugar self-sufficiency in 2024.

This target will be achieved through the realization of the Prosperous Program by absorbing fertilizers for 20,000 farmers from each plantation company.