Jokowi Notes Corn Fields in Keerom Papua Still Needs Improvement

Papua – The Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inspected corn fields in a food estate area located in Wambes village, Mannem district, Keerom regency, Papua province on Thursday. He said that there were several improvements that can be taken for the results of it.

These are the corns we planted three months ago. It has been 107 days ago precisely since our last visit. Some corns are growing bigger, while some don’t grow much because they get too much water. As evaluated by Minister of Agriculture, the regent, and local farmers, the distance of the ditches for drainage must be designed smaller from 12 to 5 or 6 meters,” the President stated after the inspection.

The President went on to say that the different quality of corn yields is not unusual because the field has only been used once for planting and growing corns.

However, the corn fields are expected to produce higher corn yields that can exceed the national standard.

“I see the land is very fertile, yet it needs proper water drainage to produce approximately seven tons per hectare, higher than that of the national standard of 5.6 tons per hectare,” he said.

The head of state also pointed out that the selling price of corns harvested in the area can bring a big profit for local farmers since the price ranges from IDR 5,000-6,000 per kilogram, higher than the cost of production (HPP).

“I think it will make a big profit; 7 tons per hectare times IDR 6,000 equals IDR 42 million per hectare. Let’s assume we have 1,000 hectares of land, we can already earn IDR 42 billion from it. It is a big amount to earn for only three months or 100 days,” he explained.

Once the productivity is improved, he added, the corn fields can also fulfill the national demand for corns, especially in Eastern Indonesia.

“If the corn fields have been well managed with increased productivity, people in Eastern Indonesia will definitely come here,”

President Widodo expressed hope that the corn fields will yield good results in the next harvest.

“I will regularly monitor the growth. If the growth in 45 hectares of land shows good results, I will return for the harvest,” the President said.