Anticipating Long Drought, Ministry Of Agriculture Accelerates Planting Of Independent Rice Seeds

Agriculture (Photo: Ministry of Agriculture)

The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) together with the DIY Provincial Agriculture Service and the Regency Agriculture Service have pushed for the acceleration of self-planting of rice seeds in the Ngudi Raharjo Farmers Group (KT), Poncosari Village, Kapanewon Srandakan, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta.

The rice varieties planted are Situbagendit and Inpari 32 covering an area of 10 hectares, out of a total of 20 hectares of land allocated in Bantul and Sleman.

Direktur Perbenahan sekaligus Penanggung Jawab LTT Padi Provinsi DIY, Ladiyani Retno Widowati mengatakan, percepatan penambunan ini merupakan langkah antisantisia menghadapi dampak perubahan iklim, khususnya drought pada awal 2026.

"The acceleration of planting this activity is a precautionary measure to secure the readiness of gogo rice seeds in early 2026 to face climate change in drought," Ladiyani said in a written statement, quoted Monday, August 25.

Facing the potential for a long dry season, Ladiyani appealed to farmers to use drought-resistant varieties such as Inpago 13 Fortiz, Inpago 4, Inpago 5, Situbagendit, Inpari 11, Inpari 18 to Inpari 46, and other superior varieties that match the specific conditions of the location.

This is in line with the direction of the Director General of Food Crops at the Ministry of Agriculture, Yudi Sastro, who is committed to supporting the increase in rice production to achieve food self-sufficiency, one of which is through the Mandiri Seed program.

"The Ministry of Agriculture continues to be committed to supporting increased rice production to support food self-sufficiency, one of which is the readiness of drought-resistant seeds through Mandiri Seed activities," said Yudi.

In this activity, there was also the handover of seed assistance from Situbagendit varieties, one of the suitable gogo rice grown on dry land and rice fields. The Ministry of Agriculture also distributed aid in the form of source seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and seed packaging equipment.

The purpose of the Mandiri Seed program is to increase the capacity of farmers to be able to produce seeds independently and sustainably. That way, farmers no longer need to bring seeds from outside Bantul.