Visit Papua's Food Estate, Jokowi: Keerom Corn Harvest Is Above National Standards

President Jokowi looks at the corn harvest in the food estate area in Keerom, Papua, Thursday 6 July. (Antara-Ho Setpres)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo saw firsthand the corn harvest in the food barn area or food estate in Wambes Village, Keerom Regency, Papua. According to him, the yield was above the national standard.

"Even though it is being planted for the first time, the yield is quite high, namely seven tons per hectare, this amount is above the national standard, which is 5.6 tons per hectare," he said during the corn harvest at the food estate, Wambes Village, Papua, Thursday, July 6.

According to President Jokowi, the land in that location is very fertile and what needs to be improved is the distance between the ditches so that water management is better so that production results will be even better.

"The distance between the trenches must be closed again from 12 meters to 5-6 meters so that future corn production will be better and all the corn can be the same size," he said.

He explained while the price per kilogram is IDR 5-6 thousand, which is already very high compared to the cost of production, so if the production is seven tons per hectare and times IDR 6,000, which means that it has reached IDR 42 million per hectare.

"And if you can reach 1,000 hectares, you can get IDR 42 billion per three months or 100 days of harvest," he said.

He added, his party would return to visit Keerom Regency in the next three months so that it was hoped that the next harvest would give good results.

"If the production is high, the corn field is expected to be able to meet the demand for corn in eastern Indonesia," he stated.