Recently, the government announced plans to develop food estate in Central Kalimantan. Food Estate itself is a modern national agricultural design with the concept of integrated food development including agriculture,plantations, and even livestock in an area. The idea of discussion here is to integrate food, gardening, agriculture, plantation and livestock with a single organic system. The food estate is located in Central Kalimantan Province, precisely in Pulang Pisau Regency and Kapuas Regency with an Area of Interest (AOI) covering an area of 165,319.12 hectares.
The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, said that the development of the Food Estate was a government effort to realize national food security, especially a source of national logistical reserves to prevent domestic food crises, as well as to anticipate food crises during the Covid-19 pandemic that continues in the dry season. We already know that the FAO has warned that the food crisis will hit the world because of a pandemic, also because there are seasons that cannot be regulated and predicted.the plan. The food estate will be built in the period 2020 – 2022
Acording to my opinion, food estate is one of the opportunities in which this food estate effort creates opportunities for people and our own country. The role of the community in agricultural centers will be involved in the development of this project, and will automatically increase their living rates. With the modern agricultural system, farming is no longer a difficult job and has minimal income
It is predicted that the efficiency of food distribution will increase both in cost and time. In terms of cost, it tends to be cheaper because the distribution is done domestically, the disparatist national food prices will be stable. In terms of time, it is much more efficient, with products that reach consumers more quickly, minimizing the risk of food damage as well. Of course, all of this does not escape the consideration of the most efficient route, with facilities and infrastructure that support distribution
Then, food estate also opens up opportunities for Indonesia to become an exporting country
Besides that, implementing a food estate is also a challenge for the nation. There are many obstacles that must be taken seriously. One of them is minimal labor. Because the food estate applies modern agriculture, not many people really understand how it works properly.
Then, the supply of agricultural machinery can be counted on the fingers. If the tools available are minimal, how will this project run smoothly and successfully.
The next obstacle is the unstable availability of fertilizers. Often the fertilizer comes late, if the amount is limited. This condition is a challenge that must be addressed immediately. If not treated immediately, this problem will affect plant fertility.
The challenge that really needs to be considered and monitored carefully is the land used. This is because swamps, especially peatlands, are very fragile and heterogeneous. Especially the former PGL who failed.
Based on further research, the ex-PLG land is considered sub-optimal, which means that it has been degraded and has low fertility and is unable to support plant growth optimally. Meanwhile, food estate management, he explained, is influenced by the tides. So it is necessary to maintain water quality and drainage with good water management technology. He suspects that this means that the peat has disappeared, due to the massive drainage process during the PLG period which has lasted 25 years since 1995. Indonesia has experience managing food estate during the Orde Baru era located in Lampung and the post-reform period in Central Kalimantan (Pulang Pisau). But both failed.
If you look at history, real estate is actually nothing new. The government should be able to develop a better real estate push system by looking back at the already failed harmful era for more than two decades and taking appropriate measures.
This was a challenge and opportunity that started long ago, namely Food Estate as an idea in an effort to 'uplift' peatlands as productive lands. It only remains how the society, central and regional governments work together to answer these challenges in handling technical, socio-cultural and other obstacles that hinder the running of this program to increase production on peatlands.
Written by Keefani Mentari Ingprairie | student of SMAN 70 Jakarta Major of Science
