The Government of Balangan Regency, South Kalimantan developed a rice planting index (IP) of 400 to increase food production in the region. The head of the Department of Food Security, Agriculture and Fisheries (DKP3) of Balangan Regency, Tuhalus, in Paringin, Monday hoped for assistance for the development of the 400 IP rice, and consistency of the coordinators of the Agricultural Technology Assessment Center (BPTP) and Field Agricultural Extension Officers (PPL). "The development of the 400 rice IP is a program of the Agricultural Research and Development Agency, which aims to increase rice production through increasing rice IP," he said.

This program is a system of cropping patterns of four consecutive rice plantings in a cycle of 12 calendar months. According to him, what needs to be considered if you want to do 400 IP rice is indeed difficult but this is a big job for DKP3 Balangan. Because he said, IP rice 400 is a way to increase production. He no longer wants to increase the land area because it has become a problem, so one way is to increase the IP from IP100 to IP400. He admits there are obstacles, so it is hoped that everything will be done mechanically, starting from planting, cultivating land and harvesting must be done mechanically. Balangan Regent Abdul Hadi, said the IP rice 400 program is a very strategic breakthrough, a very good innovation and should be used as support to boost production increases as well as mitigate climate anomalies. For the current context, increasing production is very important for our nation to face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, we certainly want food supplies to always be ready in sufficient quantities even in situations that are difficult to predict.

Source: https://m.antaranews.com/berita/2773633/balangan-kembangkan-padi-400-tingkatkan-produksi-pangan