By: Rina Oktavia )*
The government continues to intensify efforts to strengthen national garlic nurseries to support Indonesia’s goal of achieving food self-sufficiency. The development of high-quality, superior seeds is considered a crucial foundation for increasing domestic productivity while reducing the currently significant dependence on imports. Through increased budget support, modern technology assistance, and the development of an integrated agricultural ecosystem from upstream to downstream, farmers are expected to be able to strengthen their production capacity independently and sustainably.
To realize this ambitious target, the government has allocated approximately IDR 400 billion this year. The funds are specifically focused on supporting a garlic nursery program on 5,000 hectares of land. This strategic step was taken because the limited availability of adaptive national seeds has been a major challenge and obstacle to the development of garlic commodities in the country.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono stated that this intensive seeding program is a crucial first step. He stated that President Prabowo Subianto places significant emphasis on strengthening domestic garlic production, as this commodity is a staple food. The government considers this self-sufficiency target to be realistic, as the required planting area is not as large as that of other major food commodities. To meet total national demand, Indonesia is estimated to only need around 100,000 hectares of optimally managed productive land.
The biggest challenge facing this sector isn’t actually land availability or a lack of interest from farmers in growing garlic. The fundamental issue lies in the availability of high-quality seeds in large quantities that are adaptable to Indonesia’s climate and weather conditions. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture is prioritizing nursery development in certain highland areas known as traditional national garlic centers, such as Sembalun in West Nusa Tenggara, Temanggung in Central Java, and Humbang Hasundutan in North Sumatra. These highland areas are considered to have ideal agro-climatic conditions for producing high-yielding seeds.
Furthermore, Sudaryono emphasized the government’s strong commitment to ending its dependence on imported seeds. In addition to the often limited allocation in the global market, imported seeds also require a lengthy environmental adaptation process to grow optimally in the Indonesian archipelago. As a solution, the Ministry of Agriculture, through the Directorate General of Horticulture, is strengthening the local seed breeding system by directly involving farmer groups in the regions.
Under this proposed breeding scheme, farmers will receive government assistance in the form of seeds to be planted and developed into new seedlings. After harvest, farmers are required to return one and a half times the original amount of seeds they received. This revolving scheme aims to accelerate national seed availability, while the remaining harvest remains entirely with the farmers to sell directly to the market, thereby generating economic benefits for local breeders.
Financing intervention through the state budget is crucial given the high initial investment costs in the nursery sector. For each hectare of land, the total cost of nursery production can reach around IDR 120 million, with the largest portion allocated for the procurement of key seed components. To accelerate the achievement of the planting area target, in addition to the expansion program through the state budget, the active involvement of state-owned food enterprises and the private sector is also being encouraged to expand new nursery areas to reach the target of 20,000 hectares.
Downstream, the Ministry of Agriculture is simultaneously building an integrated commodity ecosystem to create business certainty for farmers. Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman stated that his staff is providing full support, starting from providing quality seeds, production facilities, supporting agricultural machinery (alsintan) such as cultivators, to strengthening the role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in absorbing harvests. This comprehensive upstream-downstream approach is seen as key to the success of the long-term self-sufficiency program.
The government has also prepared a special Government Purchase Price (HPP) instrument for fresh garlic to ensure farmers obtain a reasonable profit margin and market certainty. Seed production from seed farmers, the private sector, and PTPN plantations will be absorbed by ID Food and Bulog for redistribution to expand the planting area of commercial commodities in various regions. Through this upstream-downstream coordination, the warehousing system and distribution chain management can operate stably.
With all these preparations, the government is very optimistic that this independent seeding program will begin to show significant results within the next three to four years. This strategic step will not only independently strengthen the pillars of national food security but also open up significant opportunities for improving the welfare of garlic farmers across the archipelago.
)* The author is a student living in Jakarta