Jakarta. State-run fertilizer producer Pupuk Indonesia recently told farmers to embrace good farming practices as the company held its Safari Makmur campaign in Kuningan.

The campaign also saw the trial runs for Pupuk Indonesia’s NPK Padi Gogo fertilizers. Pupuk Indonesia’s marketing director Tri Wahyudi Saleh told the farmers that implementing the correct farming practices could spur productivity and income. Its implementation can also help Indonesia become self-sufficient in its food production. 

"In this Safari Makmur program, we invite you not to spread fertilizer carelessly. You need to pay attention to what [your crops] are lacking. Just like when it comes to the human body. If we are not feeling well, it means we lack vitamin C. The same goes for soil,” Tri Wahyudi was quoted as saying in a press statement.

According to Tri Wahyudi, Pupuk Indonesia has an on-farm partnership program in the form of intensive supervision and assistance to farmers and sustainable agricultural cultivation supported by technology, namely the Makmur Program. 

The program, which stands for "Let's Advance People's Business", is an integrated agricultural ecosystem that covers the upstream and downstream sectors. This way, it can help farmers boost productivity to support the national food self-sufficiency program. The Makmur program, which was first launched by State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir in 2021, enables farmers to identify the nutrient content of the soil through the mobile soil testing (MUT) facility. It helps provide recommendations to farmers on the fertilizer doses according to the needs of the soil and the plants to be planted.

“Since its launch, the Makmur program continues with SHS [Sang Hyang Seri] as the seed producer and Pupuk Indonesia [as the fertilizer producer]. We also have the state-owned banks in providing the financial capital, the Agriculture Ministry's standardization body, as well as the [state logistics agency] Bulog as the off-taker,” Tri Wahyudi said.

He added: “This is a multi-stakeholder partnership.”

This year, Pupuk Indonesia aims to realize the Makmur program on an area of ​​500,000 hectares spread across various regions in Indonesia. About 200,000 hectares will be specifically for rice plants, while the remaining 300,000 hectares are for non-rice commodities (i.e. sugar cane, cassava, coffee, palm oil, horticulture, to name a few). As of 2024, Pupuk Indonesia’s Makmur program reach has spanned 450,000 hectares. It has helped over 200,000 farmers.

According to Tri Wahyudi, farmers need to be careful when purchasing fertilizers. He also advised against being tempted by cheap fertilizers as the products could be counterfeited. He had found such cases in West Java and other regions in Indonesia. As a case in point, Pupuk Indonesia has the NPK Phonska brand. Tri Wahyudi revealed that he had found an identical fertilizer product with the same color, brand, and packaging, and even had the name “Phoska”. When tested, the fertilizer did not have nitrogen (N) content. For context, an NPK fertilizer encompasses nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

"As a fertilizer producer, we have a corporate responsibility. We are supervised by the government. Our production is also being supervised. We also have national standards SNI. If God is willing, there shall be no fertilizer by Pupuk Indonesia that does not meet those standards,” Tri Wahyudi said.