JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) invites all farmers in the country to accelerate the rice planting period after the main harvest because the availability of rainwater is still available so that plants do not experience drought.
"I invite all farmers in the country, because the water is still there, there is still rain, after it is harvested don't give a long pause, immediately process the land again, planted again," said President Jokowi during a big harvest in the rice fields in Kartoharjo Village, Ngawi District, Ngawi Regency, East Java, quoted from Antara, Saturday, March 11.
The President asked that the presence of rainfall that is still falling in a number of countries must be used to help irrigate rice fields and rice plants in order to increase national food stocks and security because it will soon enter the dry season which is predicted to be longer.
Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo (Mentan SYL) stated that he was ready to realize President Jokowi's order to accelerate rice planting after the main harvest by synergizing with regional heads.
Of the total rice fields of 7.4 million hectares, it is targeted to accelerate planting to an area of up to 10 million hectares.
"Our rice fields are actually 7.4 million hectares, but the area of planting can be more than that, by accelerating planting. For land that has been harvested, don't give the pause for too long because the water is still there. We together with the Governor and Regent will simultaneously take that step," said the Minister of Agriculture YSL accompanied President Jokowi.
According to him, the second archipelago rice harvest by President Jokowi in Ngawi Regency has provided a symbol of the harvest with 1 million hectares, although the overall data shows that this February the harvest area reaches 1.20 million hectares with an estimated production of 6.39 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice (GKG), equivalent to 3.68 million tons of rice.
Furthermore, March is 1.70 million hectares with a production of 9.14 million tons of GKG equivalent to 5.26 million tons of rice, and in April 1.15 million hectares with a production of 6.09 million tons of GKG or the equivalent of 3.51 million tons of rice.
"So, we hope that we maximize this faster harvest and simultaneously do it, because we are facing a long dry weather. Even though it turns out that during this harvest, the rain is still there, so we have to calculate this weather anomaly," he said.
Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture said that rice production in Ngawi Regency is much higher, namely an average of 8 tons per hectare compared to other areas of only 6 tons per hectare. Even though the land in Ngawi Regency is not an irrigation rice field, but uses a water pump, farmers' treatment is quite good.
"Therefore, the President's order to increase the 'dryer', 'power threat', even because the price of unhulled rice is higher using a combiner engine than a sickle, the President also asked for the combie harvest machine to be reproduced and we are ready up to 1,000 units using KUR funds to support it," he said.
Meanwhile, according to data, the harvest area in March 2023 in Ngawi Regency reached 32,676 hectares. The current price of unhulled rice in Ngawi Regency for manual harvest is IDR 4,700 to 4,900 per kilogram, while those using a "combine harvester" engine can reach IDR 5,000 to IDR 5,500 per kilogram.
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