Makassar, April 20, 2024 - As a company entrusted with the mandate to produce and distribute subsidized fertilizers, PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) states that subsidized fertilizers can only be redeemed at official complete fertilizer kiosks (KPL) in their respective regions. According to regulations, subsidized fertilizers cannot be redeemed by farmers who are not listed in the Group Definitive Needs Plan (RDKK).

GM of Region 2 of Pupuk Indonesia, Roh Eddy Andri Wismono, stated that farmers who receive fertilizer subsidy allocations are regulated by Minister of Agriculture Regulation (Permentan) Number 10 of 2022 concerning Procedures for Determining Allocation and Maximum Retail Prices of Subsidized Fertilizers for the Agricultural Sector.

"Subsidized fertilizers can only be redeemed at designated official kiosks that serve local farmer groups, and farmers who redeem them must meet the criteria set by Permentan Number 10 of 2022," Roh Eddy explained.

Permentan Number 10 of 2022 mentions that farmers eligible for fertilizer subsidy allocations are those who are members of farmer groups, registered in SIMLUHTAN (Agricultural Extension Management Information System), cultivate a maximum of two hectares of land, and use a Farmer Card (for certain regions).

Additionally, registered farmers are ensured to cultivate nine (9) commodities specified in the regulations, namely rice, corn, soybeans, shallots, garlic, chili peppers, coffee, sugarcane, and cocoa. In other words, farmers cultivating crops outside of these commodities are no longer eligible for subsidized fertilizer allocations.

For farmers in South Sulawesi (Sulsel), Roh Eddy conveyed that the Government has allocated a subsidy of 417,637 tons of fertilizer in 2024. This subsidized fertilizer stock is allocated to 24 regencies/cities. In order to maintain the availability of subsidized fertilizers, Pupuk Indonesia has provided a stock of subsidized fertilizer totaling 136,282 tons as of April 19, 2024, for the Sulsel region. This stock consists of 84,142 tons of urea and 52,140 tons of NPK.

Regarding realization, Pupuk Indonesia has successfully distributed 133,738 tons of subsidized fertilizer in South Sulawesi. This figure is equivalent to 32 percent of the total allocation for the year 2024. The breakdown is 80,653 tons of urea and 53,085 tons of NPK.

For registered farmers wishing to redeem subsidized fertilizer, the process has been further simplified. This is because Pupuk Indonesia has collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) to innovate by implementing the i-Pubers (integrated subsidized fertilizer) application at each official kiosk.

With this digital system, registered farmers only need to bring their ID card (KTP) to redeem subsidized fertilizer. This application is intended to facilitate farmers in the process of redeeming subsidized fertilizer by applying integrated data at distributor partners (kiosks) between the list of subsidy recipients e-Allocation with fertilizer stock data available at Pupuk Indonesia.

Therefore, Roh Eddy expressed that farmers in regencies/cities of South Sulawesi no longer need to hassle to redeem subsidized fertilizer at kiosks, as Pupuk Indonesia has implemented digitalization for fertilizer redemption using the i-Pubers application.

Starting from February 1, 2024, the implementation of i-Pubers has reached 100 percent nationwide and is available in more than 27,000 kiosks across Indonesia. The implementation of the i-Pubers application is a step forward in the distribution of subsidized fertilizers in Indonesia. The i-Pubers application is expected to help farmers obtain subsidized fertilizer more easily and efficiently.

"Through integration with Kementan's e-allocation data and geo-tagging features, i-Pubers becomes the forefront solution to ensure the accuracy of fertilizer distribution. This digital innovation is not only efficient but also helps us target subsidized fertilizers precisely, driving growth in the agricultural sector with precision," he said.