DPR Asks Government To Allocate Cassava Subsidy Fertilizer

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Chairman of Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Sudin, asked the government to allocate subsidized fertilizers for wood or cassava sweet potato commodities so that farmers can improve their welfare.

"We have had three discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture, even the official meeting at the DPR asked for the speciality of cassava as a commodity that can receive subsidized fertilizer," said Sudin, quoted from ANTARA, Thursday, October 12.

Sub-Department said, Lampung is one of the provinces that produces the largest wood sweet potatoes or cassava in the country.

According to him, the Lampung farmers are mostly cassava farmers, but the fertilizer subsidies for these commodities do not exist. Therefore, he continues to encourage the government to provide subsidy fertilizer for cassava commodities.

However, he said again, Lampung does not have tobacco farmers such as in Central Java and parts of East Java, so subsidized fertilizers are not given.

Likewise, Lampung does not have people's sugar cane farmers such as in West Java, Central Java, and Blitar, East Java.

"Therefore, I will continue to propose to the government to provide subsidized fertilizer for cassava commodities," he said.

On the other hand, he asked extension workers to provide counseling to farmers for the use of good fertilizers.

"It is better for fellow extension workers to socialize the use of Cassava NPK fertilizers because the production results are quite good," he said.

The Sub-Department also asked farmers to use fertilizer as an allocation for their plants.

"Many of our farmers use fertilizers in excess with the hope that the production will be large. Unlike that, excessive use of fertilizers can cause the soil to start to saturate and the plants are not optimal. This kind of mindset must be changed by farmers," he also said.

The cassava commodity is the largest agricultural commodity in Lampung, even in the country, with a production of 7.3 million tons and a land area of 268,822 hectares.