MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE INSPECTS WATER PUMP STATION IN MERAUKE TO ADVANCE MODERN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
Merauke, April 17, 2024 – The Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, Andi Amran Sulaiman, reaffirmed his commitment to transforming Merauke Regency, South Papua, into a model for modern agriculture aimed at reducing production costs and improving farmers’ welfare. This was conveyed following his inspection of a water pump installation in Amunkay Village, Tanah Miring District, Merauke.
“Our goal is to transform traditional agriculture into modern agriculture to improve farmers’ welfare, as production costs can be reduced by up to 60 percent,” said Minister Amran.
As a concrete step, the Minister stated that the government is currently developing 20,000 hectares out of a total target of 500,000 hectares. This target is expected to be achieved progressively, considering that the Cropping Index (IP) in Merauke currently averages two planting cycles per year and has the potential to increase to three cycles annually.
“God willing, we have decided to begin by optimizing 20,000 hectares, with the budget approved today, and implementation will commence immediately. If successful, we will expand to manage 500,000 hectares out of the 1.2 million hectares of potential land. We initiated this in 2016–2017 across 10,000 hectares, and it has proven successful—now it is time to harvest the results,” he explained.
However, the Minister emphasized that agricultural development in the region requires special attention, particularly in water management, which remains inadequate. To address this, the government will implement a large-scale pumping (pompanization) program to enable farming during the dry season.
“We are now improving water management. Currently, the Cropping Index stands at 1.3, with some areas achieving two harvests per year, and we aim to increase this to three. This will significantly boost production through the use of modern equipment,” he added.
The Minister also highlighted that the central government will provide substantial support, including the imminent deployment of 75 four-wheel tractors from Surabaya, 40 water pumps to support dry-season planting, 10 combine harvesters, and other agricultural equipment to establish Merauke as a model region.
As part of ongoing efforts to address food security challenges, the Ministry of Agriculture continues to implement emergency programs in Merauke, including the Pompanization Program covering 45,000 hectares of both paddy and dry land, as well as swamp land optimization and upland rice (gogo) planting using the TUSIP method across 1,050 hectares.
Source: Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia
