NTT Provides 109 Tractors To Support Cattle Harvest Corn Planting Program

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The Provincial Government of East Nusa Tenggara has provided 109 tractors each with 43 four-wheeled units and 66 two-wheeled units to support the Cattle Harvest Corn Planting (TJPS) program presented by the local provincial government.

"This agricultural machine tool is available in 2020 and comes from the state budget, provincial budget and the aspirations of members of the DPR RI from NTT," said NTT Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat in a statement received in Kupang, Antara, Monday, December 28.

He said this was related to the support of agricultural machine tools (alsintan) to realize the Cattle Harvest Corn Planting program which was presented by the government together with the Deputy Governor of NTT, Josef Nae Soi.

Apart from the tractor, other agricultural machinery support that is already available is 1 unit of excavator, 75 units of water pumps, 3 units of combine hasvester, 1 unit of corn planter, 5 units of planting rota and optimizing the utilization of irrigation networks and reservoirs.

"Apart from that, we are also optimizing the use of irrigation networks and reservoirs," he said.

The provincial government recorded that the realization of the corn planting area for the TJPS program in the second planting season for the April-September 2020 period reached 1,732 hectares.

Viktor said the planting area for corn had only reached a thousand hectares due to the lack of raw water availability in the dry season and pests.

However, he continued, the government remains committed and optimistic that in the first planting season of October 2020-March 2021, TJPS land area in 16 districts is 8,268 hectares.

Corn production in the first planting season is projected to reach 4 tons per hectare, so it is estimated that TJPS will produce 33 thousand tons of corn.

"From a marketing perspective, the government has collaborated with off-taker corn buyers, who will buy corn at a price of Rp3,200 per kilogram," he said.

Governor Viktor added that the main challenge in implementing this program is the availability of raw water, especially during the dry season. For this reason, the Government is committed to fulfilling the availability of irrigation infrastructure to support the success of the TJPS program.