The food barn or food estate (FE) program is one of the government's efforts to strengthen domestic food production. Because at this time, global dynamics make every country have to ensure that food stocks are maintained.
Director General of Horticulture Prihasto Setyanto said there were a number of areas that were made into food estates, one of which was in Humbang Hasundutan (Humbahas) Regency, North Sumatra. According to him, the food storage in the area is the result of cooperation with various parties.
"The Ministry of Agriculture received a mandate to cooperate with related stakeholders to build a food estate area in Humbahas. We are working according to the planning and results of the design investigation survey or SID," said Prihasto in a written statement, Tuesday (31/1/2023)
"We are pioneering the opening of a completely new land in an expanse of 215 hectares, it turns out that the production results are quite good for the initial size. Along with the process of improving the physical and chemical properties of the soil, strengthening irrigation and road infrastructure and assisting farmers, productivity is showing an improving trend," he continued.
Based on the numbers, he explained that during the first planting period which was harvested in early 2021, the average shallot productivity was 5.7 tons/ha, garlic 2.7 tons/ha and industrial potatoes 10.2 tons/ha. Then in the following season there is an increase in crop yields on land cultivated by farmers independently or in partnership with offtakers.
"For example, the partnership with PT Indofood potatoes can produce more than 20 tonnes/ha, the garlic partnership with PT Parna Raya has reached 6.5 tonnes/ha and the shallots of independent farmers have reached 7.5 tonnes/ha.” he explained.
He mentioned that all of the land that was successfully cleared was 215 hectares in the 2020 planting season. 70% of the land was still managed by the sustainability of its farming business. The rest has not been managed again due to various factors such as land ownership and limited accessibility within the area.
"Since April 2021, the management of the North Sumatra FE area has been carried out by a Transition Team led by the Humbahas Regent and Experts from the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment," he said.
Prihasto explained that the team continues to make various efforts to achieve the target of expanding the land to 1,000 hectares. The regional development pattern utilizes a partnership between farmer groups and the private sector. So that farmers can get marketing guarantees as well as technology transfer.
"With this pattern, it is hoped that farmers will become more independent and that agribusiness in the area will be more organized," said Prihasto
Meanwhile, a farmer figure and chairman of the Ria Work Group Ria Ria Amintas Lumban Gaol village objected that the food estate project was considered a failure. Because Amintas, who works as a farmer, has benefited from the presence of the project.
"Who said it failed? Ask us directly if you want to know the truth. I myself am a food estate historian since the preparations for opening until now. I have personally experienced the benefits of Pak Jokowi's program," said Amintas.
Amintas explained that since the project was opened by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2020, many people have benefited from the program. Farmers also find it easy to manage their land to plant a number of commodities sought by the market.
"So we have land for cultivation. We can plant onions and potatoes. Roads are also improved. Irrigation is also made. Other facilities are provided by the government free of charge. Production results are also getting better here, as long as the farmers are tenacious and diligent in cultivating the land," he said.
"We farmers and the community are actually very grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture who has fully supported us from the beginning until the first season's harvest. We have felt their assistance very intensively from the start of the program until 2021. I myself witnessed it," he continued.
The Karejo group farmer Laurensus Siregar also expressed the same thing. According to him, the presence of a food estate has a positive impact on increasing the income of farmers. This is because a number of lands which were previously unproductive can now be utilized.
"Thanks to joining this FE, I can get a good additional income from planting potatoes and shallots. From the beginning the land was idle, now it is fertile land. I can buy a pure motorcycle from selling the harvest of potatoes. The green onion that I planted was also good. here, you can get 300 kilos per rante (1 chain is 400 m2)," said Laurensus.
Another farmer, namely Rusman Siregar, also felt the same way. Rusman admits that his income has increased compared to before the existence of the food estate.
"Our income has increased many times compared to before this program. Even though access to our land is difficult, the results are not bad. The assistance of a 3-wheel motorbike from the Ministry of Agriculture in 2020 really helped our daily life on the land," concluded Rusman.
