PI Niaga Makmur Program in Cilegon
Agriculture
is a strategic sector that supports national food security. However, in 2023,
agriculture is facing a long drought and low rainfall due to the impact of the
phenomenon of rising sea surface temperatures or El Nino.
Under
these conditions, one of Pupuk Indonesia's efforts is to support agricultural
intensification, namely by providing the Makmur program.
Pupuk
Indonesia Niaga, as a member of the Pupuk Indonesia group, continuously plays
an active role in the Pupuk Indonesia Makmur Program
considering
the scope of the commerce business which is spread across several provinces.
Apart from providing benefits to farmers, the Makmur Program also provides
business opportunities to increase income for stakeholders.
The
Makmur Program, which stands for Let Us Advance People's Business, is an
ecosystem that connects farmers with a number of state-owned companies which
aims to increase farmers' productivity and income from farming results. This
program was launched by BUMN Minister Erick Thohir in 2021.
As of August 2023, Pupuk Indonesia has implemented the Makmur program on 226,299 hectares of land or 131 percent of the target of 172,667 hectares. Likewise with increases in productivity, such as rice increasing by an average of 14 percent, corn increasing by an average of 23 percent, sugar cane increasing by an average of 27 percent, coffee increasing by an average of 48 percent, and palm oil increasing by an average of 7 percent.
In
early September 2023, through the Makmur Program, Pupuk Indonesia Niaga
together with Pupuk Kujang initiated a prosperous program cluster with 28
farmers preparing to plant rice seeds on 25 hectares of land in Seruni Village
- Cilegon.
Hafid,
SPM Makmur PI Niaga Program explained that the aim of the Makmur Program in the
Cilegon area is to create an agricultural cluster with a commercially healthy
business ecosystem so that it can improve farmers' income and prepare the
cluster to face the transfer of fertilizer subsidies. In this program, PI Niaga
provides special supervision in the form of providing supervisors who are
experienced in the Makmur Program to ensure that the Makmur Program can provide
optimal benefits. According to agricultural supervisor PI Niaga Ismail Aziz
"the response from farmers was very good as evidenced by the enthusiasm of
farmers working together in carrying out comprehensive cultivation planning.
Farmers said there was no agricultural program like this because from seed
selection, planting planning to harvest management the program was in such detail
with the aim of increasing crop productivity."
And
what's interesting is, farmers who take part in the Prosperous Program will
earn higher incomes than farmers who don't have the program. "This is
because the productivity of the rice produced has increased and is of good
quality, quality and timely agroinput, good cultivation planning and harvest
management planning," said Hafid, ending his explanation.