Minister urges staff to monitor management of subsidized fertilizers

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo has instructed his staff to monitor the management of subsidized fertilizers to ensure they reach all farmers.

“Let there be no misappropriations and deviations, extravagance here and there. Please take good care of them (fertilizers),” he noted while opening the Subsidized Fertilizer Management Training of Trainers (ToT) in Bogor, West Java, Thursday.

According to the minister, the global agriculture sector is currently facing a complicated condition, with fertilizer prices skyrocketing as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Before the pandemic, the highest price of urea fertilizers stood at Rp4,123 per kilogram as of June 24, 2019. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a 242-percent increase was recorded on March 25, 2022, and the increase in prices still occurs up until now.

“With the current availability of fertilizers, we must apply the principle that fertilizers must be distributed quickly, carefully, and accurately,” Limpo emphasized.

The minister called for the use of a digital system to improve the accuracy of distribution.

He also pressed for training to be conducted optimally. He opined that training for extension workers and managers of subsidized fertilizers is necessary because in managing subsidized fertilizers, people, with a mindset of defending the country, are needed.

Apart from monitoring the management of subsidized fertilizers, he also called on all parties to improve creativity in utilizing local resources to get around the current availability of subsidized fertilizers. Developing organic fertilizers as an alternative to chemical fertilizers is one of the solutions.

Head of the Agricultural Human Resources Counseling and Development Agency (BPPSDMP), Dedi Nursyamsi, stated that participants in the ToT event exceeded the earlier set target.

“From a target of 40 thousand participants, 40,676 participants have registered, which consist of extension workers and managers of subsidized fertilizers, who attend online and offline,” he remarked.

In line with the instructions of Minister Limpo, the training materials will be focused on efforts to boost the effectiveness of subsidized fertilizer management.

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