InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA –General Director of Plantation Ministry of Agriculture, Andi Nur Alam Syah said palm oil – corn integrated program would be the right strategy when the world is in food crisis. The program - Kelapa Sawit Tumpang Sari Tanaman Pangan (Kesatria) should be implemented with the field standards.
“Whey do we get corn as the intercrop? Because corn needs reached up to 14 million tons per year while the domestic supply could not be enough. That is why the government always imports corn as the solution,” he said in the event of “Optimalisasi Lahan Melalui Program Kelapa Sawit Tumpang Sari Tanaman Pangan” in the campus of Ministry of Agriculture, Wednesday (15/11).
Andi also mentioned, corn is needed by this country to fulfill food and woof needs. “Indonesia would potentially save the revenue from corn imports that could be substituted as the incentive in the upstream sectors,” he said.
Central Bureau of Statistic (CBS) data that showed corn imports increased for years. In 2022, Indonesia imported 1,09 million tons of corn, increased 9,89% to the previous year. By having plan to get corn import up to 500.000 tons in 2023, the government hoped to get the backup and fulfill the breeders’ needs. Of course, we could reduce or even stop corn imports.
“I do hope this meeting would be the moment to enliven palm oil industries in Indonesia in the future by optimizing every available plantation. I am optimist that Indonesia would be more sustainable by implementing multi-party synergy to accelerate multi-party collaboration,” he said, as in the official statement to InfoSAWIT. (T2)
