President Jokowi Asks Agriculture Minister to Revise Policy on Subsidized Fertilizers

President Jokowi chairs a limited meeting on organic fertilizers policy, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (04/27). (Photo: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Rahmat)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo askded Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo to revise regulation on subsidized fertilizers stated in the Regulation of Minister of Agriculture Number 10 of 2022. In the regulation, the subsidized fertilizers, which were initially categorized into 6 types, will be revised into 2 types, namely urea and nitrogen, phosphate, and kalium (NPK).

“Today, the President emphasized that organic fertilizers should be included and Agriculture Minister must immediately revise the Regulation of Minister of Agriculture Number 10 after completing some processes swiftly,” Agriculture Minister said after the limited meeting chaired by President Jokowi, at the Merdeka Palace, jakarta, Thursday (04/27).

President Jokowi highlighted that the availability of fertilizers, especially for strategic food are very crucial to ensure the sustainability and quality of food commodities. The use of organic fertilizers not only will improve domestic agricultural productivity, but also can maintain the productivity of the land.

“Fertilizers [are crucial] for the land’s productivity as well as to improve the quality of the fruits. Therefore, the policy on fertilizers should be formulated more effectively and to the utmost by certainly using various update instruments, not in old-fashioned manners,” Agriculture Minister explained.

Furthermore, the President directed Agriculture Minister to boost the productivity of organic fertilizers producers, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (UMKM).

“God willing, two organic fertilizers will be centralized, which means that all fertilizers producers in the community or UMKM, and others will be revitalized,” Syahrul mentioned.

The Head of State also ordered Agriculture Minister to make a community-based prototype or association, and to improve researches and trainings on organic fertilizers development.

“In a short time, I will communicate with associations as well as figures and experts in agriculture to formulate how important organic fertilizers are,” Agriculture Minister remarked. (FID/UN)(AW/LW)