Jakarta – Chief Executive Officer of Pupuk Indonesia, Rahmad Pribadi revealed that the domestic fertilizer supply is currently in a safe condition because President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has approved an additional subsidy budget of IDR14 trillion.
Pribadi explained that the available fertilizer stock currently amounts to 2 million tons, with 1.1 million tons already distributed across various districts and ready for distribution.
"The current volume of subsidized fertilizer available is 4.7 million tons. The President has also approved an additional budget, so the total will later become 7.2 million tons," Pribadi said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Ilustrasi produsen pupuk dan pestisida.
"Out of the 4.7 million tons of subsidized fertilizer stock that has been approved, it will be allocated for the first planting season. Then, additional budget will be prepared for the second planting season. If fertilizer stocks are smooth, production will also run smoothly," Pribadi added.
Earlier, Pribadi also explained that for the additional subsidy plan of 2.5 million tons of fertilizer, they are currently awaiting the disbursement process of the additional budget worth IDR 14 trillion provided by the government.
Therefore, while waiting for the additional IDR14 trillion budget, Pribadi ensured that they would focus on distributing the existing subsidized fertilizers to farmers.
"If the IDR 26 trillion total is for 4.7 million tons of fertilizer, and the IDR14 trillion (additional budget) will add (fertilizer supply by) 2.5 million tons," he informed.
It's known that the government will encourage rice production to boost the national rice supply, aiming to help suppress rice prices in the market.
One steps is to accelerate land preparation in February 2024, in several regions both on Java Island and outside Java Island.
