Expert: Fertilization Counseling Increases Agricultural Productivity

Illustration (Photo: Doc Antara)

JAKARTA - agricultural expert Bustanul Arifin from the University of Lampung stated that counseling and assistance in terms of fertilization for farmers can increase agricultural productivity.

"The improper use of fertilizer will not be effective in increasing agricultural productivity. For this reason, farmers need to be given counseling and assistance in terms of fertilization so that the fertilizer they use can be given more efficiently and avoid the potential for excessive fertilizer use," said Bustatul as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 17.

In the first quarter of 2024, he said, global fertilizer prices fell with a positive amount of production triggered by a decline in natural gas prices.

The positive development is expected to continue with the price of fertilizers that will continue to fall during 2024 and 2025 amid the ban on fertilizer exports in China.

However, the Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Lampung also reminded that this positive momentum support needs to be supported by the use of appropriate fertilizers by farmers.

Meanwhile, Head of the Department of Cooperation and Advocacy of the Mainstay Fisherman Farmers' Group (KTNA) Sidi Asmono said that the sustainability of the agricultural industry was also determined by the regeneration of farmers.

"A total of 70 percent of farmers in Indonesia are senior farmers and the government's campaign to regenerate farmers has been implemented since 2015 and needs to be continued, so that more young people want to enter the agricultural sector," said Sidi.

He predicts that extreme climate phenomena such as El Nino and La Nina will have an impact on food prices that increase so that an increase in domestic food production is needed.

The food sector is the foundation of people's survival so that the next government needs to ensure the country's ability to continue to ensure national food security.

Increasing agricultural productivity is the key so that food ingredients are available in sufficient quantities at affordable prices for all Indonesian people.