Malang, (malangkota.go.id) – Mayor of Malang, Drs. H. Sutiaji together with Deputy Mayor of Malang, Ir. H. Sofyan Edi Jarwoko handed over various assistance to farmer groups in the Mukti V Farmer Group Rice Plantation, Bakalan Krajan Village, Tuesday (13/12/2022). The empowerment of urban agriculture initiated by the Malang City Agriculture and Food Security Service (Dispangtan) aims to reduce inflation.
The Mayor of Malang, Drs. H. Sutiaji together with the Deputy Mayor of Malang, Ir. H. Sofyan Edi Jarwoko handed over various assistance to farmer groups in the Mukti V Farmer Group Rice Plantation, Bakalan Krajan Village, Tuesday (13/12/2022).
Mayor Sutiaji said that this activity also supports the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, that the provision of assistance is to deal with inflation by encouraging planting crops that are quickly harvested. In Malang City, the Malang City Government is also concentrating on empowering residents to grow crops using the urban farming system.
"With limited land, people can plant crops for family needs. The goal is for family food security," said Sutiaji.
Sutiaji hopes that residents who receive various assistance from the government will maximize their farming. So that what is given by the government can provide benefits for family food needs.
"We hope that with this urban farming system, the current agricultural land will not change its function. Agricultural land will remain agricultural land," he continued.
For that reason, the Malang City Government is currently proposing the existence of protected rice fields (LSD). He said that there should be incentive and disincentive policies. The incentive is to provide assistance to farmers. The assistance can be in the form of seeds, fertilizers, and so on.
At this event, Dispangtan Malang City also conducted sampling of land tiles per hectare. The goal is to find out the harvest results if rice is planted. "From the side earlier, it is known that 1 hectare of land can produce 1,5 tons. That means there are 55 million divided by four months, so it is clear that the welfare of farmers is still concerning," he said.
Therefore, he continued, there must be innovation to encourage farmers in Malang City to have income by utilizing the existing land. For example, if there is still land left, it can be used for chicken farming, fish farming, and others.
"Agricultural land in Malang City is currently only 804 hectares in five sub-districts. In Sukun Sub-district there are 157 hectares and Bakalan Krajan Village has 42 hectares," said Mayor Sutiaji.
Meanwhile, Head of Malang City Dispangtan, Slamet Husnan Hariyadi said, Malang City Government focuses on developing urban farming. The hope is that food security starting from the family level, neighborhood associations, and residents' associations can be maintained. Therefore, his party provides assistance to farmers.
"The provision of this assistance is in accordance with the president's mandate to control inflation by encouraging the planting of fast-growing crops," said Slamet.
The assistance provided included 3 hand tractor units, 10 power weeder units, bird nets, rat poison, 60 packages of KUB chicken farming facilities, 25 packages of chili farming, 100 packages of fish farmers. In addition, three savings books from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia worth Rp10 million were also handed over to farmers affected by foot and mouth disease (PMK). (cah/ram)
