Minister Of Agriculture Amran Encourages The Use Of Alsintan Technology To Increase National Rice Production

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman continues to encourage the use of technology in the form of agricultural tools and machinery (alsintan) in accelerating national rice production to increase production effectiveness and efficiency during rice harvest.

"If you use technology, costs decrease by 60 percent, productivity can double, loss is 10 percent, and 10.2 percent we can take," said Minister of Agriculture Amran in a statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, March 13.

The Minister of Agriculture said that the harvest had started in various regions, so the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) continued to intensify the use of alsintan, one of which was to reduce the loss of results (food loss) during harvest.

"Disappearance of yields at harvest can be very large if not handled properly," said Amran.

Amran explained that there are several post-harvest stages, ranging from harvesting, conditioning, transporting, drying, milling, storage, and marketing. The point of loss of results occurs at the harvesting stage, temporary buildup of rice cylinders, and amendments to produce grain.

He said one of the effective alsintan to suppress loss was the combine developer which was able to suppress loss by up to 1-2 percent.

"This machine is able to cut rice, knock, and clean grains of grain from dirt," Amran said.

Separately, the Head of the Agricultural Instrument Standardization Agency (BSIP) Fadjry Djufry revealed that the Ministry of Agriculture has innovated to produce a Mini Combine Harvester (MICO) which is adapted to Indonesian rice fields which are generally narrow and muddy.

Fadjry said the MICO size is 260 cm long, 180 cm wide, and 170 cm high with a weight of 800 kg. With a work width of 1.2 meters and a engine work capacity of 7-9 hours/ha.

"Mini Combine Harvester can be easier to operate and maneuver in the map of rice fields that are not too wide," he also said.

Fadjry revealed that the alsintan technology has been licensed by private companies, such as PT Lambang Jaya, PT Adi Setia Utama Jaya, and PT Sarandi Karya Nugraha. This means that Mini Combine Harvesters have been produced for adoption by farmers.

"We hope that farmers can use appropriate technology, especially to secure crops from loss of fruit. Thus, yields will be more optimal," said Fadjry as well.