JAKARTA. Following up on the government's policy to completely stop the corns’ imports starting next year, the Ministry of Agriculture sets up a new strategy in order to fulfill the domestic demands of corns. Ministry of Agriculture targets to secure an additional of corn corps in 3 million hectares (ha) area throughout Indonesia. The additional supplies will be obtained from 2 million ha area, which have already been planted, and the rests will be cultivated in 1 million ha plantations area. This means that the Ministry of Agriculture will integrate the food crops with plantation commodities. Director General of Plantation at the Ministry of Agriculture Bambang said that in 2017, the corn cultivation in will be integrated with oil palm, cocoa, rubber, and others.
The Ministry of Agriculture offers concept that the corns will be cultivated in the sidelines of palms, which are still at the age of one or two years, on the replanting palm field. "We ask all companies, both privates and PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN), to grow corn as an inter culture on their replanting lands," said Bambang, Wednesday (16/11). Bambang said that the Ministry of Agriculture will suggest the model as an investment. The Ministry of Agriculture also expects that the privates and state owned companies will have initiative to purchase the seeds and cultivate the inter cultures. However, the Ministry will provide the seeds and fertilizers to palm and rubber farmers as the incetives. In the next year, Bambang added that there are potentials 400,000-500,000 ha of rejuvenated area of palm fields. The huge area will be used to cultivate corns. The corns cultivation will stop when the plants on the lands have aged at 4-5 years. This is for the second time for palm oil plantation area used as a test event for the development of other agricultural commodities. In 2013, Ministry of Agriculture had been rolling the the integration program of the cattle farm on oil palm plantations, but the results were not optimal, on the grounds that many palm oil companies did not agree with this policy. Let alone, the Ministry had no binding legal umbrella for this program. Pros and cons Secretary General of Association of Palm Oil Farmers (Apkasindo) Asmar Arsyad said that the farmers are ready to run the instructions from the Ministry of Agriculture. He also requested the Ministry to immediately distribute the corn seeds to farmers, who will perform palm replanting in the next year on 1.5 million ha area.
He said the cultivation of inter cultures on the palm fields will allow farmers to earn income earlier while waiting for palm harvests in the next four years. However, the Secretary General of the Association of Indonesian Palm Oil Entrepreneurs (Gapki) Togar Sitanggang did not agree with the plan. According to him, cultivating corns in palm plantations require a lot of studies and researches, on the grounds that the palm plantation companies do not have the experience of taking care of these plants. Understandably, the plant was not their core of business. "There are many aspects to consider, such as the competence of the employees. Those are the employees of the palm companies, not the corn farmers," he added. (Muhammad Farid/Translator)
