Expert: Food Estate Development Should Make The Opening Of Land For Palm Oil

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - The government's move to develop large-scale agricultural land or Food Estate outside Java should imitate the process of clearing land for palm oil plants that have been prepared for at least five years in order to produce well, said Professor of the Faculty of Agriculture, Padjadjaran University, Bandung Tualar Simarmata.

"In the first one to two years, there is time to install and build infrastructure," said Tualar Simarmata in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Monday, November 28.

According to Tualar, the food estate concept that prioritizes continuity of the process from upstream to downstream is correct. However, the inventor of the Organically Controlled Padi Aerob Identification Innovation (IPATBO) assesses that there are still many things that need to be addressed in the food estate program.

The first food estate program was launched when the food estate crisis accelerated at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. In addition to Humbang Hasundutan Regency, North Sumatra, as well as Pulang Pisau Regency and Kapuas Regency in Central Kalimantan, food barns were also expanded to East Nusa Tenggara, precisely in Kakuluk Mesak District, Belu Regency.

Meanwhile on the island of Java, food estates are centered in Garut Regency, West Java, and Bantul Regency, DI Yogyakarta, as well as Temanggung and Wonosobo in Central Java. The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing is responsible for preparing land and infrastructure. Once ready, the responsibility for planting and mentoring lies with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Tualar explained that the land used as a food estate area in Kalimantan was previously not planted with rice or corn. Therefore, proper treatment is needed so that it can be planted with rice or corn and requires a longer process of clearing land.

"Food Estate should not only give a wind of heaven. It is too naive to say that one or two years of production can be produced. The government must be willing to open up to evaluation. Conceptually this should be correct. But the execution is problematic," said Tualar.

He suggested that the government should appoint a special institution or institution to be responsible for developing food estates, for example, PT Perkebunan Nusantara. Indonesia has many commodity-based PTPN.

"It's a relief to open the land first, the infrastructure, only after everything is ready, at least five years give it to farmers. Don't immediately release it like now. So many are stalled," he said.