(JAKARTA, Indonesia, 12 February 2025) - IRRI is continuing to expand the dissemination of the Rice Crop Manager (RCM) Indonesia platform, locally known as Layanan Konsultasi Padi (LKP), to further optimize fertilizer use in rice production. The RCM project team from IRRI HQ and IRRI Indonesia met with key directors from the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture involved in fertilizer policy and extension services: the Director of Fertilizer and Pesticide, and the Director of the Center of Agricultural Extension.
Meeting with the Director of Fertilizer and Pesticide
The meeting with the Directorate of Fertilizer was attended by the Director of Fertilizer and Pesticide Dr. Drs. Jekvy Hendra, M.Si. and his team; Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and IRRI Liason Scientist for Indonesia Prof. Dr. Ir. Hasil Sembiring; RCM Project Leader, Dr. Madonna Casimero; and the RCM project team.
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| The Directorate of Fertilizer team presents fertilizer policy in Indonesia. |
The meeting started with a presentation on the fertilizer policy in Indonesia by the directorate team. The presentation highlighted that the amount of subsidized fertilizer increased in 2024 from 6.31 million tons to 9.55 million tons. The increased amount of subsidized fertilizer was aimed to encourage farmers to keep farming, which is essential for supporting food security.
Following the presentation, RCM Work Package Lead for the research component Rowena Castillo presented the LKP overview and highlighted its benefits. She mentioned that “From the latest LKP and NOPT trials conducted across eight target provinces in Indonesia, results show that farmers, on average, could save up to 30 kg of nitrogen per hectare equivalent to around 1.3 bags of urea per hectare without yield penalty. This amount, if calculated to 1 million hectares, is equivalent to around 146 trillion Indonesian Rupiah in savings from subsidized fertilizers.”
Dr. Hendra responded positively, stating “This is what we’ve been looking for. We are very interested in LKP and the science behind it because it can improve fertilizer efficiency in rice farming. This is particularly important given that 70-80% of subsidized fertilizers are used for rice cultivation.”
Looking ahead, the Directorate has expressed a plan to incorporate LKP into the regulation for the Procedures for Determining Subsidized Fertilizer Allocation, considering it as a key reference in determining the distribution of subsidized fertilizers across the country. This marks an important step toward further integrating LKP into Indonesia’s national agricultural policies.
Meeting with the Director of the Center of Agricultural Extension
The meeting with the Center of Agricultural Extension was attended by its Director of the Center of Agricultural Extension Dr. drh. Purwanta, M.Kes and his team; Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and IRRI Liason Scientist for Indonesia Prof. Dr. Ir. Hasil Sembiring; RCM Indonesia Project Leader Dr. Madonna Casimero; and the RCM project team.
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| Ms. Rowena Castillo (IRRI) presents the results of RCM Indonesia project activities. |
RCM Project Development and Deployment manager Rowena Castillo provided the overview of the Layanan Konsultasi Padi (LKP) platform and its potential benefits based on the results of field trials. She highlighted the substantial savings farmers can achieve on fertilizer nitrogen inputs without yield penalty. Her presentation was followed by a dissemination component of the RCM project.
RCM Indonesia Project Manager Benedict Jardinero highlighted the current status of LKP deployment with more than 120,000 recommendations generated as of December 2024. This exceeds the project target of 100,000 LKP recommendations. In addition, he presented the outcomes of the IRRI-conducted training of trainers in 2023 and 2024 that capacitated key staff from the provincial offices of the Badan Standardisasi Instrumen Pertanian/Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Instrument Standardization (BSIP), who in turn trained 7,662 extension workers and farmer leaders to use LKP. Part of the presentation showed the findings from the LKP satisfaction survey conducted by Viamo with the majority of extension workers and farmer respondents finding LKP relevant, useful, and easy to use.
The Director of the Center of Agricultural Extension expressed strong interest in LKP, saying “This is a perfect opportunity for collaboration, and we are keen to integrate LKP into our activities. With the recent restructuring within the Ministry, more than 30,000 extension workers now report under our office, and the Ministry’s primary goal is to enhance food self-sufficiency. As the extension center, we have direct access to these extension workers and can seamlessly incorporate LKP into our Training Center programs.”
In conclusion, IRRI and the extension center agreed to pursue a collaborative training initiative on LKP, with further discussions to follow. This partnership marks an exciting step forward in expanding LKP’s impact through Indonesia’s agricultural extension network.
The RCM Indonesia project is being implemented by IRRI in collaboration with Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture - BSIP and other private entities, with funding support from the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
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