JAKARTA – Good news for farmers in Samosir Regency, North Sumatra (Sumut). Based on e-allocation data, the Government in this case the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) set the allocation in Samosir Regency at 13,931 tons in 2023, or an increase of 15.91 percent from the previous year's allocation of 12,018 tons for two types of fertilizers, namely urea and NPK.

Vice President (VP) of Sales Region 1 of PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero), Wawan Arjuna said that the allocation of subsidized fertilizers in Samosir Regency will be distributed to 9 districts in accordance with applicable regulations. The details of the allocation consist of urea fertilizer types of 7,552 tons and NPK of 6,378 tons.

"The allocation of subsidized fertilizers in Samosir Regency for 2023 reaches 13,931,095 tons for urea and NPK fertilizers. This has increased by 15.91% compared to the 2022 allocation of 12,018 tons for urea and NPK fertilizers," said Wawan as quoted, Wednesday (22/2/2023).

Wawan ensures that all subsidized fertilizer allocations will be received to farmers who meet the criteria as stated in the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture (Permentan) Number 10 of 2022 concerning Procedures for Determining the Allocation and Highest Retail Price (HET) of Subsidized Fertilizers in the Agricultural Sector. In this regulation, the Government focuses fertilizer subsidies on two types, namely Urea and NPK.

In this new regulation, Wawan revealed that there was a change in crop commodities that received fertilizer subsidies, namely there were 9 commodities that received fertilizer subsidies ranging from food crops such as rice, corn, and soybeans. Then horticultural crops consisting of chili, onion, garlic, and plantation sub-sectors consisting of folk taboos, coffee, and cocoa. In other words, outside of these 9 commodities are no longer entitled to subsidized fertilizer allocations.

"In 2023, farmers who are entitled to subsidized fertilizer have also changed from what was previously inputted in the e-RDKK, now to e-Alokasi which is an electronic device and procedure that functions to collect and determine subsidized fertilizer allocation data," added Wawan.

Wawan further revealed that the stock of subsidized fertilizer in Samosir Regency was recorded at 663 tons as of February 21, 2023, or 100 percent of the minimum provisions set by the Government. The subsidized fertilizer stock will be distributed to 9 districts starting from Sianjur Mula-Mula, Harian, Sitio-tio, Palipi, Nainggolan, Onan Runggu, Pangururan, Ronggur Nihuta, and Simanunda in accordance with the allocation of the local Agriculture Office.

The realization of the distribution or distribution of subsidized fertilizers in Samosir Regency has reached 2,533 tons, consisting of urea of 1,251 tons and NPK of 1,302 tons as of February 21, 2023.

Meanwhile, overall in North Sumatra Province, the stock of subsidized fertilizers was recorded at 29,183 tons, equivalent to 171 percent of the minimum stock requirement of 17,009 tons. That way, the stock of subsidized fertilizer prepared by Pupuk Indonesia meets the needs of farmers for the next three weeks. Meanwhile, in terms of realization of distribution or distribution, 31,025 tons have been distributed, consisting of urea of 16,825 tons and NPK of 14,200 tons.