By: Maria Wanggai )*
The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) has prepared Merauke Regency, Prov. South Papua is becoming a large-scale food provider through land optimization agricultural modernization (OPLA). This Central Government policy makes Merauke a food basket in the Eastern Region of Indonesia with a Land Optimization Program (OPLA) covering an area of around 40,000 Ha.
Previously, in mid-May 2024, the Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, was known to have sent 330 units of agricultural machinery (Alsintan) from Surabaya to Merauke using the KRI Soeharso. These hundreds of units include pumps, planting equipment, harvesting equipment, drones, fertilization equipment and superior seeds. The delivery of a number of agricultural machines is aimed at increasing production and expanding planting areas (PAT) so that the development of Merauke as a food basket, especially rice, can run optimally.
Andi Amran Sulaiman is also optimistic that agricultural modernization will accelerate the development of Merauke as a food basket for Eastern Indonesia. For the initial stage, the Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman said that there were 40,000 hectares of land in the District. Merauke is ready to be optimized. This figure will continue to be developed to 1,000,000 hectares. If achieved, the Government can produce 15 million tons of grain or around 8 million tons of rice.
Andi Amran confirmed that agricultural development in Kab. Merauke is carried out with the principles of justice, paying attention to the rights of local communities, and supporting sustainable and inclusive economic development for all farmers in the area. This is considered to be the best momentum to develop agriculture in Merauke.
Furthermore, Andi Amran Sulaiman emphasized that the development of agricultural land in Merauke will be developed optimally through the concept of agricultural modernization. This is done so that in the future the Merauke agricultural concept like this will become a model to be developed in a number of other regions in Indonesia.
Andri Amran detailed that these 40,000 hectares are a modern agricultural cluster where all needs use technology. Later, this can be used as an example in other places, starting from planting, harvesting, to processing using modern tools.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Agricultural Infrastructure and Facilities (PSP) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ali Jamil, added that apart from carrying out infrastructure improvements from OLA activities, 330 units of machinery were also allocated to seven districts in the district. Merauke with the details, namely TR4 200 units, TR2 30 units, water pump 80 units, RT 20 units.
Ali Jamil said that currently land cultivation has been carried out in Ngguti Bob Village, Tanah Miring District, Kab. Merauke using the allocated machinery. Activities that have been carried out include channel normalization and land processing on tidal swamp land using TR4. In general, rice fields in Kab. Merauke uses a mini polder system, which means the rice fields are surrounded by dates and embankments, while the water circulation uses a pump.
This pumping is used in the rainy season to reduce flooding in rice fields, and in the dry season it is used to fill water from secondary channels into the rice fields. Apart from that, on some land in Merauke there is still land that is IP100, due to lack of water supply and unavailability of accessibility.
Ali Jamil said that the right solution to overcome this problem is to normalize the channel or place a large capacity water pump to speed up the flow of water from the intake and relay on the channel which is located far from the intake. Likewise, during the rainy season to speed up the drain from the rice field area to the drainage channel.
On the same occasion, the Regent of Merauke, Romanus Mbaraka, admitted that he was optimistic that the region he leads would be able to become a national food basket. He said that support from the Central Government in the form of machinery, seeds, fertilizer, and direct assistance to farmers in the field would have a positive impact on agricultural development in the region.
In the near future, the Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, will also rehabilitate and repair rice fields that were originally occupied by farmers to ensure that agriculture in Merauke can run well and improve the welfare of local farmers.
In addition, the Government plans to develop a sugar plantation industry of millions of hectares in Merauke, South Papua. This project is predicted to support national sugar and bioethanol self-sufficiency. President Jokowi has also created a Task Force (Satgas) to accelerate this project. This 2 million hectare food and energy project is included in the National Strategic Project (PSN) as a continuation of the large-scale food development project (food estate). The investment value of this project has reached US$8 billion or the equivalent of IDR 130 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of IDR 16,252).
So, to create a prosperous Papua, we must prioritize and develop agriculture so that it can produce local food products that are of high quality and competitiveness, as well as increasing food security, so that it can increase people’s income because it can be reprocessed into MSME products. For this reason, the importance of community support for food development in the District. Merauke by optimally utilizing local food ingredients.
*The author is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta
