OKUS, The Indonesia Post – South Sumatra Governor H. Herman Deru conducted a Grand Harvest of Mikongga Varieties of Rice with farmers in Surabaya Village, Banding Agung District, South OKU Regency, Tuesday (12/10/20).
Accompanied by the Acting Regent Ogan Komering Ulu Selatan (OKUS) Nora Elisya SH.MH. Herman Deru saw the results of agricultural production in OKUS and he was optimistic that South Sumatra would soon become champions of national level food producers.
According to HD, he was surprised to learn that the production of harvested dry unhulled unhulled rice (GKP) in OKUS had reached 9 tons per hectare. If only the production was evenly distributed in South Sumatra, he was sure that South Sumatra would soon become the first champion in food production, especially rice in Indonesia.
“Because the average figure of 6.5 tons per hectare alone can make South Sumatra the fifth largest national food producer. What if 9 tons can be evenly distributed in South Sumatra. Surely we can win 1 in Indonesia,” he said.
However, HD said, the existence of fertile land and modern tools will not be optimal if farmers are not enthusiastic about plowing the fields. Because of that he always tries to encourage farmers by directly participating in the harvest with farmers in the regions.
He gave an example like Singapore, currently one of the leading economies in Asia was affected by Covid which caused their economy to contract. Meanwhile, South Sumatra, despite a small contraction, remains the highest in Sumatra. He believes that one of the sectors that has contributed to safeguarding the economy from the impact of the pandemic is agriculture and strong MSMEs.
“Our farmers are still enthusiastic, even though they are still active in the pandemic. That’s why I really appreciate it. Our achievements as the top 5 food producers should be presented to them as farmers,” he explained.
In order to maintain the enthusiasm of farmers, and increase food productivity, the head of the region, said Herman Deru, must actively participate in guiding farmers continuously. According to him, the provincial government will not remain silent, because next year there will be spreading 1,000 agricultural assistants to the regions.
“Once again I would like to thank the South OKU farmers. Seeing the extraordinary agriculture here, I would like to reiterate that in the future the South Sumatra icon will not only be plantations but also agriculture,” he said.
The problem of shrinking the planting area of the word HD from around 17,000 to 7000 is actually not a depreciation, but the administrative data for land registration has not been maximized. Therefore, to ensure the planting area, he urged the Agriculture Service and BPN OKUS to validate the land area.
“Let’s fix this, because we can’t wait to be the first national champion in food production,” HD added.
On that occasion he also advised the OIC community to remain productive but not abandon health protocols. Moreover, Pergub 37 of 2020 regarding health protocols has been issued. He also advised the public to maintain conduciveness ahead of the upcoming December Pilkada.
Not only was there the harvest with the farmers, on that occasion the Governor of HD also participated in the restocking of tilapia seeds in Lake Ranau. This effort was made to preserve the ecosystem in the Lake, which is the pride of the people of South Sumatra.
In this restocking activity, the Governor released 200,000 tilapia fish seeds which were assistance from the Provincial Marine and Fisheries Service and the South OKU Fisheries and Livestock Service.
“Lake Ranau actually has a lot of fish without being stocked. But this is restocking, if it is taken continuously without renewal it will run out, even though this is a deposit for our children and grandchildren” he explained.
On that occasion he also gave aid to farmers and fishermen. The assistance includes the ministry’s complete dryland PATB assistance package. Assistance of 1 ton of rice seeds from BPTP South Sumatra and Power thresser from the South Sumatra Agriculture and Horticulture Office.
Meanwhile, the Acting Head of South OKU Regent, Nora Elisya SH.MH, in his speech explained that the Great Harvest this time was only a small part at the end of the harvest season in the April-September 2020 planting period.
Currently, continued Nora, the area of agricultural land in OKUS is 16,905 hectares, consisting of mostly rice fields with village irrigation and rainfed. Where the dry unhulled rice production in OKUS was recorded at 190,315 tons.
“And this has been able to meet our own food needs. In fact, we are also proud because for 5 years together accompanying the East OKU, starting in 2008, we received an award as a district that has succeeded in increasing production above 5 percent,” explained Nora.
In addition to agriculture, continued Nora, South OKU has fishery potential and beautiful lake destinations that are starting to grow. Likewise, the potential for waters with large catch fish. (mhn/ril)
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