Mataram, May 18, 2024 – The government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has officially increased the allocation of subsidized fertilizer to 9.55 million tons. This increase coincides with the implementation of easier redemption of subsidized fertilizer for registered farmers in the RDKK (Definitive Group Needs Plan), requiring only an ID card (KTP).

Deni Dwiguna Sulaeman, SVP of Sales Strategy and Customer Service at PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero), stated that the redemption of subsidized fertilizer for registered farmers is conducted through the i-Pubers (Integrated Subsidized Fertilizer) application, which has been implemented in approximately 27,000 official kiosks across Indonesia, including West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

"We hope that farmers can easily redeem subsidized fertilizer using their ID cards. Kiosk staff will swiftly assist and guide the redemption process so that the fertilizer can be utilized by eligible farmers according to regulations. i-Pubers is a leading solution to ensure accurate fertilizer distribution. This digital innovation is not only efficient but also helps us direct subsidized fertilizer to the right targets," said Deni.

The i-Pubers application is an innovation resulting from the collaboration between Pupuk Indonesia and the Ministry of Agriculture. This application aims to simplify the process of redeeming subsidized fertilizer by integrating data between the distributor partners (kiosks) and the subsidy recipient list (e-Allocation) with the fertilizer stock data available at Pupuk Indonesia.

As of 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 significant step forward in the distribution of subsidized fertilizer in Indonesia. The i-Pubers application is expected to help farmers obtain subsidized fertilizer more easily and efficiently.

Currently, Pupuk Indonesia is conducting socialization activities on subsidized fertilizer policies in accordance with Ministerial Regulation No. 01 of 2024 and Ministerial Decree No. 249 of 2024 to farmers, kiosk owners, distributors, and agricultural services. According to these regulations, the government has set the subsidized fertilizer allocation at 9.55 million tons. This allocation covers four types of fertilizer: Urea, NPK, Special Formula NPK, and the newest addition, Organic fertilizer. The allocation increase for these four types of fertilizer is set at 4,634,626 tons for Urea, 4,278,504 tons for NPK, 136,870 tons for Special Formula NPK, and 500,000 tons for Organic fertilizer.

For NTB, the government has set an allocation of 433,606 tons, an increase of 214,156 tons from the previous allocation of 219,450 tons. The breakdown of the total allocation includes 222,405 tons of Urea, an increase from 130,115 tons, 190,653 tons of NPK, an increase from 89,182 tons, 1,059 tons of Special Formula NPK, an increase from 153 tons, and 19,489 tons of Organic fertilizer.

"The government has decided to increase the volume of subsidized fertilizer for the 2024 fiscal year from 4.7 million tons to 9.55 million tons. This volume increase policy needs to be widely and massively socialized so that registered farmers can know and benefit from it. Moreover, the distribution and allocation process of this additional volume of subsidized fertilizer must be well monitored," said Deni.

To ensure smooth distribution of subsidized fertilizer in NTB, Pupuk Indonesia has prepared several supporting facilities, including 32 warehouses consisting of one packing unit and 31 Line III warehouses. There are also 34 distributors with 1,603 network kiosks/retailers, supported by 17 field officers to ensure that all eligible farmers receive subsidized fertilizer according to regulations.

In line with the stipulations of Ministerial Regulation No. 01 of 2024 and Ministerial Decree No. 249 of 2024, Pupuk Indonesia ensures stock availability at all levels to support these policies. As of May 16, 2024, the national stock of subsidized fertilizer is recorded at 2.09 million tons, reaching 210 percent of the government's minimum requirement. Meanwhile, the stock available in the NTB region is recorded at 67,759 tons, reaching 190 percent of the minimum stock requirement.

As for distribution, as of May 16, 2024, Pupuk Indonesia has successfully distributed 2.09 million tons of subsidized fertilizer, equivalent to 21.9 percent of the total allocation of 9.55 million tons nationwide. The details include 1.21 million tons of Urea and 873,553 tons of NPK, with 5,101 tons of Special Formula NPK. In the NTB region, 106,565 tons have been distributed by May 16, 2024, consisting of 67,520 tons of Urea, 38,945 tons of NPK, and 100 tons of Special Formula NPK.

Furthermore, the increased allocation of subsidized fertilizer can be utilized by registered farmers or those who meet the criteria according to Ministerial Regulation No. 01 of 2024, which requires being part of a Farmers Group and registered in the electronic definitive group needs plan (e-RDKK). This subsidized fertilizer is intended for farmers engaged in food crop sub-sectors such as rice, corn, and soybeans, as well as horticultural sub-sectors such as chili, shallots, and garlic, and plantation sub-sectors such as sugarcane, cocoa, and coffee.

For these types of agricultural businesses, the criteria set include a maximum land area of 2 hectares, including farmers who are part of the Village Community Forest Institution (LMDH), in accordance with the applicable regulations. Under the new regulations, the Electronic Definitive Group Needs Plan (e-RDKK) can be evaluated every four months within the current year. This means that farmers who have not yet received an allocation can input their data during the registration process in the current year's evaluation.

It should be noted that this socialization activity is a collaboration between Pupuk Indonesia, the Ministry of Agriculture, the NTB Agricultural Service, the Ombudsman, and the POLRI Corruption Prevention Task Force. The event held at the Lombok Raya Hotel, NTB, was attended by approximately 250 participants, including Heads of Agricultural Services at the Regency/City level in NTB Province, District Verval Teams in NTB Province, distributors, kiosk/retailer representatives, and Farmers Group representatives in NTB Province.