146 Farmer Groups In Manokwari Receive IDR 2.1 Billion Grants Facing Scarcity Of Fertilizer

Head of the Agriculture, Horticulture and Manokwari Food Crops Service, Kukuh Saptoyudo (ANTARA/Ali Nur Ichsan)

MANOKWARI - The Manokwari Regency Government, West Papua, provided a grant of IDR 2.1 billion for 146 farmer groups in order to face the current scarcity of chemical fertilizers. Head of the Agriculture, Horticulture and Manokwari Food Crops Service, Kukuh Saptoyudo said, each farmer group received a grant of Rp. 15 million from the 2023 Manokwari APBD. "The farmer group consists of 96 rice farmer groups and 50 palawija farmer groups. The grant is to buy non-subsidized nitrogen phospat potassium (NPK) fertilizer and liquid pesticides," he said in Manokwari, Antara, Wednesday, August 30. Kukuh explained, with a budget of Rp. 15 million, each farmer group still gets 700 kg of non-subsidized NPK fertilizer for Rp. 17,500 per kg and 4 liters of liquid pesticides at a price of Rp. 250 thousand per liter. "Indeed, the difference in the price of subsidized fertilizers with non-subsidized ones is quite far. Subsidized NPK fertilizer costs Rp. 3,000/kg," he said. He explained, this year, of the 3,600 tons of subsidized NPK fertilizer needs for Manokwari Regency, only 700 tons were approved. Therefore, the Manokwari Regency Government provides grant funds as short-term stimulants so that farmers are able to face the scarcity of fertilizers. The amount of fertilizer assisted through government grants is also far from the needs of farmers. "A farmer group needs at least 150 kg of NPK fertilizer for 1 hectare of rice fields. So this 700 kg is actually not sufficient for needs. But this is a form of government concern even though it has budget constraints," he said. Kukuh explained that another step taken to overcome the scarcity of fertilizers was the Agriculture Service in collaboration with Bank Indonesia (BI) to create a pilot project for integrated agricultural development to produce organic fertilizers.

"Farmers in Manokwari also have livestock. Therefore, we will create an integrated agriculture where livestock waste is made organic fertilizer. We will test it in Macuan Village, Masni District. Like it or not, organic fertilizer must be developed," he said.