Hundreds of residents are waiting for the arrival of President Jokowi in Keerom Papua Food Estate. Most of them are residents of Mannem District. They gathered around Keerom food estate at 8 AM on Tuesday 21st of march 2023.
Jokowi arrives at Sentani Jayapura Airport at 14.00 WIT. Then, he arrives at Keerom one hour later.
President Jokowi comes to Mannem District in Keerom Regency to inaugurate a food estate. Locals are enthusiastic about meeting their president, who wants to kick off corn planting in this food estate.
One of the residents named Martina said that she was really glad to meet Jokowi. Besides, one of the farmers stated that he expected that the farmers can develop the food estate and get full support from the Papua government.
What is Papua Food Estate
For your information, food estate is a large project for crop cultivation. Usually, the food estate uses more than 25 ha of land. This project uses the principle of agriculture and industrial concept. Besides, this project also implements technology in order to optimize the harvest.
This way, the food estate project can positively impact the farmers’ life. It is because they can produce corn from this land. Jokowi has prepared 10.000 Ha of land to create a food estate located in Wambes village, Mannem District, Keerom Regency, Papua.
The local government works with farmers to prepare this land to create corn fields. The purpose of food estate is to anticipate the disruption to the nation’s food security. That is why food estate has become a national strategic program.
Even there is 10.000 Ha of land in Keerom regency is prepared for this national project, but only 100 Ha of land has been planted with corn.
Jokowi stated that Papua Government will prepare 2500 Ha of land next year. The land in Keerom is good for planting corn. Even though the fertility and productivity of this land are below the land in Java Island, this land still can produce 4 to 5 tons of corn per hectare.
Furthermore, Jokowi also said that the first harvest might only produce 4 tons per hectare of land. But, after being planted three times, the land will produce a better harvest.
Then, Jokowi also told Piter Gusbanger, the Regent of Keerom, to manage everything related to this food estate. It means the process of drying the corn, the buyer, as well as the price of corn must be clear.
When the post-harvest process is managed well, the farmers can take advantage of it. Additionally, it also ensures that the selling price is good enough for the farmers to make a profit.
The Benefits of Food Estate in Papua
Making this food estate is certainly not without purpose. Then, what are the goals of this program?
The main benefit of food estate in Keerom is to supply the corn needed for animal feed. It is because the demand for animal feed is high. In contrast, the quantity of corn production in Papua is low. Besides, the residents need corn to feed various farm animals, such as pigs, hens, and broilers.
That is the main reason why President Jokowi wants to encourage the use of land in Keerom for corn farming. The cost of bringing corn from Java to Papua is very expensive. So, Papua has to produce its own corn to fulfill the corn demand for farm animal feeding.
As a result, this food estate not only makes the farmers profitable. But it also has positive impacts on animal breeders. It is because they can find corn easily to feed their animals.
Jokowi leaves Papua Food Estate Keerom at 16.45 and heads to Jayapura City. On the next day, he attends Papua Youth Creative Hub in Abepura District, Jayapura.
