Jakarta, January 16, 2024 - In order to support the acceleration of the planting first season in 2024, PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) is ready to meet the fertilizer needs of national farmers, both subsidized and non-subsidized. Currently, the stock of subsidized fertilizer ready for distribution is recorded at 1,907,888 tons, or about 200 percent more than the minimum stock set by the Government.

Tri Wahyudi Saleh, Director of Marketing at Pupuk Indonesia, stated that the availability of subsidized and non-subsidized fertilizer is already in warehouses ranging from line I to line III, or district/city level, ready for distribution to meet the needs of national farmers.

"The availability of subsidized and non-subsidized fertilizer stock, reaching 1,907,888 tons, can meet the fertilizer needs for several weeks to come. We hope that farmers can optimize these fertilizers to boost agricultural productivity in 2024 and support the Accelerated Planting program initiated by the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Andi Amran Sulaiman," said Tri.

As of January 14, 2024, the fertilizer stock consists of subsidized fertilizer totaling 1,315,286 tons. The breakdown includes 831,172 tons of urea and 484,115 tons of NPK. Meanwhile, the stock of non-subsidized fertilizer is recorded at 592,602 tons, consisting of 499,129 tons of non-subsidized urea and 93,474 tons of non-subsidized NPK.

The availability of subsidized fertilizer stock will continue to increase in line with the direction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who mentioned an additional subsidy budget of IDR 14 trillion to meet the fertilizer needs in the planting second season of 2024.

In addition to providing stock, Pupuk Indonesia supports the Government's policy on the redemption of subsidized fertilizer using only the National Identity Card (KTP). Pupuk Indonesia, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, has conducted socialization to distributors and official kiosks related to this redemption system, supported by the i-Pubers digital system.

The redemption mechanism for subsidized fertilizer using i-Pubers is very simple. Farmers just need to come with their KTP. The kiosk will input the redemption transaction amount, and the farmer signs the transaction proof on i-Pubers.

"During the transaction, the farmer's KTP and the redeemed fertilizer will be photographed by the kiosk through i-Pubers equipped with Geotagging technology. This technology can provide additional information such as geographical location, transaction place name, and transaction time," added Tri.

The redemption of fertilizer using the KTP through the i-Pubers system has been implemented by Pupuk Indonesia at 3,002 kiosks in six provinces: Riau, Bangka Belitung (Babel), South Kalimantan (Kalsel), North Sumatra (Sumut), Central Sulawesi (Sulteng), and Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra).

It is important to note that, according to the applicable regulations, subsidized fertilizer is only intended for eligible farmers or according to the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture (Permentan) Number 10 of 2022 concerning Procedures for Determining the Allocation and Maximum Retail Price of Subsidized Fertilizers for the Agricultural Sector. Eligible farmers are registered in the SIMLUHTAN (Agricultural Extension Information Management System), cultivate a maximum of two hectares of land, and work on commodities allocated for subsidized fertilizer, including rice, corn, soybeans, shallots, garlic, chili, coffee, people's sugarcane, and cocoa. Farmers cultivating crops outside of these commodities are no longer eligible for subsidized fertilizer allocation.

As a form of support from Pupuk Indonesia to meet the needs of national farmers, the company is currently running the Gebyar Diskon Pupuk program in various cities/districts from January to February 2024. In this activity, the Government has assigned Pupuk Indonesia to meet the needs of non-subsidized fertilizer and encourage farmers to redeem fertilizer, including preparing non-subsidized fertilizer at affordable prices.

"Pupuk Indonesia is running the Gebyar Diskon Pupuk program in line with the Government's encouragement so that farmers can enjoy non-subsidized fertilizer at affordable prices and help improve agricultural productivity and the welfare of farmers. Hopefully, this program can encourage farmers to plant early so that the success of this early planting season can be harvested together in April," concluded Tri.