Jakarta (ANTARA) – Center for Indonesian Policy Studies’ (CIPS’) Senior Fellow Kadir Ruslan, in a written statement received here, Friday, suggested various approaches to bolster the productivity of crops and horticultural plants.

The solutions put forth by CIPS are using more quality seeds, increasing farmers’ access to fertilizers, handling pests, and using more farming machinery. In addition, CIPS recommends refinement of the cultivation technique, enhancement and expansion of the irrigation network, the use of weather modification techniques to mitigate impacts of climate change, and increase in the capacity of human resources in the farming sector.

Ruslan also affirmed that the methodology applied in increasing corn productivity can also be emulated to boost productivity of other crops. The senior fellow of CIPS pointed to corn productivity of 5.5 tons per hectare in 2019, thereby indicating an upward trend.

Meanwhile, a downward trend was recorded in the productivity of rice, soy, and red onion, merely managing to reach five tons per hectare, 1.5 tons per hectare, and 10 tons per hectare respectively in recent years.

“We can learn from the increase in corn productivity. The government can boost rice productivity by increasing the usage of superior varieties, specifically hybrid rice. To this day, farmers still receive low quantity of hybrid rice seeds,” Ruslan stated.

The senior fellow further outlined several aspects that necessitated evaluation in connection with crop and horticultural productivity. They comprised technical record in relation to productivity measurement, productivity development trend in the last few years, rice and second crop productivity rates according to the farming cultivation effort profile, disparity in productivity among regions, and the impact of technology through mechanization in increasing rice crop productivity in Indonesia.

In addition, Ruslan drew attention to the fact that data collection pertaining to the horticultural commodity still relied on a subjective measurement. He pushed for a more objective measurement that can boost the quality of productivity data.

Source: Antara News