TEMANGGUNG - The land around the Bansari Embung area on the slopes of Mount Sindoro, Bansari District, Temanggung Regency, Central Java, is now green with onion and garlic plants. The existence of horticultural crops in such a large area is a food estate program from the Ministry of Agriculture which has the support of President Jokowi.
Processing of food estate land in the field of horticulture is carried out using agricultural machinery (alsintan) so that it can be more efficient, because it can save time and labor.
The farmers in the area are used to cultivating horticulture such as shallots, garlic, and chilies because this mountainous area is indeed suitable for these commodities. This is a consideration for the Ministry of Agriculture to make Temanggung as a food estate area.
PromisingThe food estate program, which is quite promising, with market certainty and crop prices, has received a good response from farmers in Temanggung Regency, because so far the prices of horticultural crops tend to fall at harvest.
Head of the Food Security, Agriculture and Fisheries Service of Temanggung Regency, Joko Budi Nuryanto, said that there are five sub-districts that are ready to participate in the program, namely Bansari, Bulu, Parakan, Kledung, and Ngadirejo with a total land area of 339 hectares.
The crop commodities cultivated in this program include shallots, garlic, chilies, and potatoes.
According to him, the largest area of land is in Bansari District, reaching 169 hectares because the four commodities are planted in this area, namely shallots with an area of 96 hectares, garlic 60 hectares, and chili 12 hectares.
Then the new potato was tested for 1 hectare, because the height was still lacking. In Bansari the altitude is about 1,200 masl, even though the minimum is around 1,400-1,500 masl.
Furthermore, in Kledung District with a land area of 120 hectares with garlic commodity, Bulu 35 hectares shallots, Ngadirejo 10 hectares chili, and Parakan District covering 10 hectares for shallot commodities.
Joko said the food estate program involved 32 farmer groups, consisting of 1,120 farmers.
In this program, there is an off taker or a buyer who will accommodate the harvest at a price that has been determined in the cooperation agreement.
In this program, the farmer groups enter into a cooperation contract with the holder who will buy the harvest.
President of Appreciation
President Jokowi when reviewing the food estate area around Embung Bansari, Temanggung Regency, appreciated the program, especially with the existence of a reservoir, there is price certainty, certainty who buys, so that prices are not toyed with by middlemen.
The President hopes that through this program, horticultural productivity can increase and farmers will get guaranteed favorable prices.
Moreover, according to the President, there is assistance for horticultural seeds so that farmers' income is expected to increase.
The President promised to monitor the productivity of the horticulture at harvest and calculate it with the cost of production. "So I found that farmers really benefit from planting shallots," he said as reported by Antara.
A farmer from Balesari Village, Bansari Sub-district, Supriyadi assessed that the food estate program is good because there is a guaranteed price from the harvest collector based on a contract.
He said that usually the sale of shallots follows the market price, when the price falls, it only sells for Rp. 5,000 per kilogram and if you are lucky it can reach Rp. 15,000 per kilogram. With the food estate program, the selling price is according to the agreement so that farmers don't have to think about marketing because they focus on working to increase production.
Head of the Arga Pranajaya Farmers Group, Balesari Village, Bansari Sub-district, Siswanto said that a number of companies were accommodated in this food estate program, including PT. Spirit of Entrepreneurship, CV. Already There, and PT. Calbee Wings Food.
He said in the agreement with the container, the price for dried garlic askit (half-dry) was Rp. 12,500 per kilogram and shallots was Rp. 10,000 per kilogram, while the price of chili was still following the market price.
He said that his farmer group in mid-January 2022 is estimated to have started harvesting shallots and in February 2022 to start harvesting garlic. Shallots can be harvested at 70 days and garlic is harvested after 120 days.
Farmers Group HopeAccording to him, the food estate program is a hope for farmer groups, because selling their crops individually will be difficult, but by being a corporation or group the government is trying to bridge farmer groups to connect with the market so that there is market certainty.
With this assistance, there is technology transfer, group guidance, seed assistance and marketing.
Siswanto said apart from the reservoirs that are ready to buy farmers' crops, two other companies also entered into a garlic purchase contract with farmer groups in Bansari District after President Joko Widodo visited the area.
President Jokowi during a working visit to Temanggung on Tuesday (14/12) received complaints from farmers in Bansari Sub-district who were reluctant to plant garlic because the price had dropped, which was triggered by the entry of imported garlic at harvest time.
He said the two companies, namely PT Brebes Bumi Indonesia and PT Prima Kontainer Utama, would each buy 50 tons of garlic from the Prosperous Farmers Group IV Mranggen Kidul Village, Bansari District and 50 tons from the Arga Pranajaya Farmer Group.
"We thank Pak Jokowi for his presence yesterday and the quick response from the Ministry of Trade, which immediately responded to farmers' complaints about the price of garlic by bringing in buyers," he said.
He hopes that other entrepreneurs will also participate in making purchases at farmer groups in the Bansari area in particular and Temanggung in general.
Temanggung Regency is one of the granaries for local garlic so it must continue to produce with guaranteed profitable harvest prices.
He said that from the land area of the Prosperous Farmers Group IV in Mranggen Kidul Village and the Arga Pranajaya Farmers Group in Balesari Village, it is estimated that they will produce 400 tons of garlic.
According to him, the purchase contract of 100 tons from the two companies is very helpful for farmers, because the harvest will also be purchased by other entrepreneurs and partly for seeds.
With the certainty of purchasing crops in this food estate program, it is hoped that it will benefit farmers so that they can improve their welfare.
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