East Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) Regency, South Sumatra, is targeting the archipelago's rice harvest in that area to reach one million tons of Harvested Dry Grain (GKP) in 2023 from a total land area of 137 thousand hectares (Ha). "We are optimistic that we can achieve the target considering that OKU Timur Regency is one of the largest food storage areas in South Sumatra," said the Head of the East OKU Agriculture Service, Junadi during the rice harvest in Raman Agung Village, East Buay Madang District, Sunday. Junadi said, since the beginning of 2023 farmers in several sub-districts in OKU East have carried out a rice harvest with very satisfying results. He detailed, in January 2023 farmers in several villages in East OKU had carried out a large harvest of 2,512 hectares with production reaching 19,718 tons of GKP, while in the February period the yields reached 51,049 tons of GKP from a land area of 6,686 hectares. "For the harvest in March 2023 it is predicted to reach 135,839 tons of GKP from a total area of 17,791 hectares ready to be harvested," he said. East OKU Regent, Lanosin Hamzah said that this Nusantara rice harvest activity was carried out simultaneously in 66 points of agricultural land in regencies/cities in Indonesia, including East OKU. In East OKU itself, he said, today's rice harvest was held in Raman Agung Village, East Buay Madang with a land area of 25 hectares which was harvested simultaneously by farmers in the village. "Thank God, until the harvest which was held for the third time at OKU Timur this year there were no problems, although sometimes farmers have to deal with extreme weather," he said. Even so, he hopes that adequate agricultural equipment, such as tractors, will be provided by the Ministry of Agriculture so that the rice harvest can be carried out quickly and maximally so that the target of one million tons of GKP can be achieved this year. Meanwhile, the Head of the Center for Standardization Testing of Agricultural Land Resources Instruments in South Sumatra, Husnanin, gave appreciation to the ranks of the East OKU Regency Government, especially farmers who have contributed to the success of the Nusantara rice harvest movement with a target of one million tons of GKP targeted by the government this year. According to him, OKU Timur is one of 66 regencies/cities in Indonesia which is carrying out the main harvest with Indonesian President Joko Widodo which is being held in Kebumen Regency, Central Java Province. "We will immediately submit proposals for agricultural equipment assistance to the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture," he said.
Tuesday, 14 March 2023 07:59
OKU Timur is targeting a million tons of Nusantara rice harvest in 2023
