President Jokowi Inspects Corn Fields in Papua Province

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inspects corn fields in a food estate area, Wambes village, Mannem district, Keerom regency, Papua province, Thursday (07/06). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Thursday (07/06) inspected corn fields in a food estate area located in Wambes village, Mannem district, Keerom regency, Papua province.

According to the President, there were several measures that can be taken to improve the productivity and planting system.

“These are the corns we planted three months ago. It has been 107 days ago precisely since our last visit. Some corns are growing bigger, while some don’t grow much because they get too much water. As evaluated by Minister of Agriculture, the regent, and local farmers, the distance of the ditches for drainage must be designed smaller from 12 to 5 or 6 meters,” the President said after the inspection.

The President went on to say that the different quality of corn yields is not unusual because the field has only been used once for planting and growing corns. However, the corn fields are expected to produce higher corn yields that can exceed the national standard.

“I see the land is very fertile, yet it needs proper water drainage to produce approximately seven tons per hectare, higher than that of the national standard of 5.6 tons per hectare,” he said.

President Jokowi also pointed out that the selling price of corns harvested in the area can bring a big profit for local farmers since the price ranges from Rp5,000-6,000 per kilogram, higher than the cost of production (HPP).

“I think it will make a big profit; 7 tons per hectare times Rp6,000 equals Rp42 million per hectare. Let’s assume we have 1,000 hectares of land, we can already earn Rp42 billion from it. It is a big amount to earn for only three months or 100 days,” he explained.

Once the productivity is improved, he added, the corn fields can also fulfill the national demand for corns, especially in Eastern Indonesia.

“If the corn fields have been well managed with increased productivity, people in Eastern Indonesia will definitely come here,” the President said.

President Jokowi expressed hope that the corn fields will yield good results in the next harvest.

“I will regularly monitor the growth. If the growth in 45 hectares of land shows good results, I will return for the harvest,” the President remarked. (FID/UN) (RIF/MMB)