The National Food Estate Indonesia program was launched back in 2020 in order to solve the food crisis. West Papua, particularly in Keerom, becomes a part of the program due to its vast prospective land.
Keerom is one of the Food estate development plans to achieve a larger-scale of harvest. However, the plan may have a negative effect because it might risk the biodiversity in the region.
Thus, the development requires careful planning while seeking advice from the indigenous to get the best outcome. The Indonesian president, Jokowi, has been preparing a 10,000 hectares corn plantation in Keerom due to the continuing of implementing a food estate program.
This is a huge project because it is hoped that the harvest can also fulfill the demand for animal feed.
About Food Estate Indonesia
The food estate program in Indonesia started in 2020 to solve the then food crisis in the country. Thus, the government projects its vast area of provinces such as Kalimantan and West Papua. These two provinces have many potential lands to cultivate to produce crops for people.
West Papua, especially Merauke, is a part of the national food estate program in order to increase the economy and transformation in many sectors.
The food estate program in Merauke Papua started under Dutch control in 1955 due to the rice field planting in the district of Kurik. Later, the program continued because of the transmigration program in the 1970s.
Between 2015-2019 there are more than 8,000 hectares of rice fields in the Merauke region thus, this area is said to have a rice surplus. However, under the leadership of Jokowi, they do not plan any rice fields within the region but more on corn plantations.
Keerom: Papuan Food Estate
Keerom is among the many state food estate program locations due to its potential lands. The president visits the region as it is a strategic project to observe its readiness and implementation. He said they only have plowed 500 hectares out of the available 10,000 hectares of land because of the plan.
They have planted corn on approximately 100 hectares as part of the Food Estate Papua. However, they will expand the area to 2,500 hectares to meet their schedules. The president mentioned that Keerom is suitable for corn plantations due to its flat landscape.
The cultivated land is promising because it is estimated to produce four to six tons of harvests per hectare.
The harvest will be in June 2023, so everyone hopes it will help increase the region’s food estate and surroundings. However, the president said it is important to prepare the off-takers to absorb the commodity well.
Thus, as the Agriculture Minister, he asked Syahrul Yasin Limpo to ensure the post-harvest commodity processing and sales so the farmers can profit well. The corn plantation is a promising project because the region has an insufficient corn supply for animal feed.
Jokowi hopes that the local stakeholders can participate in this plan by taking the yields to produce more animal feed for a maximum food estate in the region.
Conclusions
Papua, Indonesia, provides us with beautiful nature, diverse culture, and vast land, so the government is determined to make it part of the national food estate. Keerom region is one of the significant regions to implement the program due to its vast land for corn plantation.
It is hoped that the corn yield can help meet the food needs in the region.
However, Food Estate Indonesia should also consider preserving nature so it won’t risk the existing biodiversity in the area.
