Pupuk Indonesia Affirms Support For Food Swasembada In Book Talk 'Elephant Learns Flamenco'

Photo: Special

PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) is ready to support and contribute to realizing food self-sufficiency initiated by the Red and White Cabinet Government led by President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The company will carry out adaptive, innovative, and sustainable strategies.

This was revealed by the Deputy President Director of Pupuk Indonesia, Gusrizal at the Book Talk Roadshow which carries a book entitled "Elephant Learns Flamenco: BUMN Agile Menari, Towards Indonesia Gold 2045" at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), Tuesday 5 November.

As one of the SOEs that has a strategic role in the food sector, said Gusrizal, Pupuk Indonesia already has a program that is ready to support food self-sufficiency, namely the Prosperous Program.

The MAKMUR program is a form of our commitment to build food security in Indonesia. With the support of the government and close collaboration with farmers, we hope to help farmers optimize their crops and achieve sustainable food self-sufficiency," said Gusrizal.

The MAKMUR program, which was initiated and launched by SOE Minister Erick Thohir in August 2021, is an effort by Pupuk Indonesia to connect farmers with an agricultural ecosystem that provides convenience for farmers to access fertilizers to capital. The agricultural ecosystems in question range from project leaders, insurance, financial institutions, agricultural technology, agro input, local governments (Pemda), and offtakers.

Through this program, Pupuk Indonesia plays an active role by providing assistance, training, and technology assistance to farmers to improve their agricultural products. This collaborative and empowerment-based approach helps farmers not only in terms of productivity, but also in increasing income and welfare.

In order to support food self-sufficiency efforts in Indonesia, Pupuk Indonesia is ready to innovate and collaborate with various parties.

Pupuk Indonesia continues to develop various innovations, including through digitalization and collaboration programs with farmers and the government, to answer the challenges of self-sufficiency in food in the future," said Gusrizal in his presentation session.

As a company engaged in the agroindustry sector, Pupuk Indonesia realizes the importance of supporting the food self-sufficiency program launched by the government. To realize food self-sufficiency requires joint efforts and mutual cooperation with all stakeholders. Meanwhile, from Pupuk Indonesia, efforts are made through two main strategies, namely availability and affordability for fertilizers for farmers.

Pupuk Indonesia is committed to ensuring the availability of fertilizers by increasing production capacity by developing new factories and revitalizing old factories and distributing them efficiently. One concrete step taken by the company is the implementation of an end-to-end digitization system in the production process to the distribution of fertilizers, referred to as I-Pubers.

Through I-Pubers, Pupuk Indonesia can monitor and control the entire distribution chain so that fertilizers can be distributed on time and in accordance with the needs of farmers in various regions.

"Digitalization across the process chain allows us to increase efficiency, reduce distribution errors, and ensure fertilizers are available to farmers when they need them. This is very important in supporting productivity and sustainability of the national agricultural sector," explained Gusrizal.

In addition to ensuring availability, Pupuk Indonesia strives to keep fertilizer prices affordable for farmers. One of the affordability of fertilizer prices is supported by raw material prices, especially gas. Pupuk Indonesia appreciates the Government for implementing the Limited Natural Gas Price (HGBT) policy. Given that gas costs account for about 70 percent of the total urea fertilizer production costs and 5 percent for NPK, the availability of gas at lower prices can greatly help Pupuk Indonesia maintain affordable fertilizer prices.

Pupuk Indonesia participated in the Book Talk Roadshow which carried a book entitled "Elephant Learns Flamenco: BUMN Agungah Menari, Towards Indonesia Gold 2045" at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB). This event is part of a long series of roadshows organized and initiated by the Indonesia Brand Forum (IBF). Taking the big theme Togetherness & Competitiveness, this roadshow highlights the strategic role of SOEs in various sectors to achieve the vision of Indonesia Gold 2045.