BANGKA – PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) continues to improve services to national farmers by making it easier for farmers to redeem subsidized fertilizer through a digitalization system that has been implemented at kiosks. This digital system called i-Pubers has been implemented in the provinces of Bangka Belitung, Riau, South Kalimantan, North Sumatra, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Aceh and Bali.

The President Director of Pupuk Indonesia, Rahmad Pribadi, directly checked the implementation of the digital system or i-Pubers application at several kiosks in the Bangka Belitung Islands province. "We came to Bangka to dig up as much information as possible and see firsthand the implementation of the i-Pubers application at kiosks to improve Pupuk Indonesia services in order to support the subsidized fertilizer policy which is planned to be changed to direct fertilizer assistance," said Rahmad.

The use of i-Pubers by all these kiosks is a form of follow-up by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of BUMN through Pupuk Indonesia on instructions from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) regarding improving the governance of subsidized fertilizer policies, especially improving agricultural data.

Rahmad confirmed that the i-Pubers application which has been implemented at kiosks in the Bangka Belitung Islands province is ready to support improvements in the governance of subsidized fertilizer. i-Pubers or subsidized fertilizer integration is an integration system between the Ministry of Agriculture's e-Allocation application and Pupuk Indonesia's Pekan application. This application is a new means for kiosks to input subsidized fertilizer distribution data in real time and makes it easy for farmers to redeem subsidized fertilizer.

Several kiosk owners in the Bangka Belitung Islands are also ready to support improving the governance of the subsidized fertilizer policy by improving services through digitalization, as stated by Ola, a representative of the Kamarudin kiosk owner in Puding Besar District, Bangka Regency. According to her, the i-Pubers application not only makes it easier for farmers to redeem fertilizer but also for kiosk owners who no longer make reports manually.

"At first there were complaints because we weren't used to it, but after getting used to this application it didn't make us complicated. The redemption process is easier because farmers just need to bring their KTP and they can redeem it. "However, with i-Pubers we no longer make manual reports, because they are recorded directly in the application," said Ola.

Even though it makes the redemption process easier, Mashur, the owner of a fertilizer kiosk in Bakam District, West Bangka Regency, admits that there are several technical problems, such as an unstable internet network, which can even be lost if the electricity goes out in his area. However, he admitted that he was ready to follow the subsidized fertilizer policy decided by the Government.

Redemption of subsidized fertilizer with i-Pubers can only be done by farmers registered with e-Allocation. The way to redeem it is that farmers come with their KTP (residential identification card) to have their NIK scanned to access farmer data in the e-Allocation system. Next, the kiosk will input the amount of the redemption transaction and the farmer signs proof of the transaction on the i-Pubers application.

At the time of the transaction, the KTP belonging to the farmer and also the farmer along with the subsidized fertilizer redeemed will be photographed by the kiosk on the i-Pubers application. The input photos will be equipped with geo-tagging and timestamp. So you can record the location and time when transactions occur and make tracking easier. If the KTP does not match, the farmer must complete it with a Certificate from the village or sub-district government. Through i-Pubers, registered farmers must come to the kiosk in person and cannot be represented. However, for registered farmers who have died, the redemption can be taken by the heirs by showing proof of the death certificate.