Trenggalek and Tulungagung, Jawa Timur, 3 February 2022 - As a global enterprise with core competencies in health and agriculture as well as the vision: Health for All, Hunger for None, Bayer helps improve the livelihoods of farmers in Trenggalek and Tulungagung, East Java; mainly dealing with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which is still ongoing.

Trenggalek in particular, Bayer's initiative through the 'Better Life Farming' program in the form of agronomic technical assistance has succeeded in bringing farmers in this area to yield 9.7 tons of paddy per hectare. Attending the harvest ceremony with farmers in Ngadirejo Village, Pogalan District, Trenggalek are: Jarot Indarto from the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas) and Laksmi Prasvita - Head of Communications, Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability Bayer Indonesia.

“Farmers have a significant role to ensure the availability of domestic food amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which potentially cause food crisis. Seeing the outstanding increase in rice production, we really appreciate Bayer's initiative through the 'Better Life Farming' program, which not only equips farmers with the latest agricultural products and technology but also enhances their skills, provides access to market and finance, which is expected to help increase agricultural productivity in Indonesia, builds farmers’ institutions as well as improve the quality of farmers’ life," said Jarot Indarto from the National Development Planning Ministry (PPN/Bappenas).

In addition to visiting the harvested land, the officials are also involved in a dialogue with farmers and stall owners who are members of the Better Life Farming Center (BLFC) in Kalianyar, Ngunggahan Village, Bandung District, Tulungagung Regency.

BLFCs which are the major part of the 'Better Life Farming' program are agricultural smart kiosks aka “convenience stores” that serve as supporting ecosystems for farmers; involving off-takers, agricultural insurance, financial institutions (KUR agriculture or fintech) that provide access to agri-input technology, capital, and drone service providers.

In Tulungagung, BLFC has succeeded in facilitating more than 10,000 farmers to get easy access to markets (to sell their produce), counseling and assistance, crop protection products, and new technologies such as drones - which they can apply to make the production process more efficient and to increase the harvest.

Jarot added that the role of BLFC in Tulungagung is expected to be a model of how smart kiosks in the agricultural sector can increase crop yields, and serve farmers so that ultimately the farmers' will be more prosperous.

Launched in 2020, the 'Better Life Farming' program targets the empowerment of 4 million farmers by 2030 throughout Indonesia.

East Java is one of Indonesia's rice granaries. Data from the Statistics Indonesia[1] shows East Java as the largest rice producer in 2021 with a total production of 9.91 million tons of dry unhusked rice, equivalent to 5.69 million tons of rice. The agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors alone account for 12.37 percent of East Java's Gross Regional Domestic Product (PRDB).

Trenggalek and Tulungagung Regencies respectively produced 119,110 tons and 235,804 tons of dry unhusked rice or equivalent to 68,422 tons and 135,456 tons of rice in 2021. The rice production increased by almost 10 percent compared to 2020 production, where Trenggalek was recorded to produce 108,445 tons and Tulungagung 214,398 tons of dry unhusked rice or equivalent to 62,296 tons and 123,160 tons of rice respectively.

In Trenggalek, the Better Life Farming program has succeeded in empowering more than 8,000 farmers in seven districts.

Laksmi Prasvita as Head of Communications, Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability of Bayer Indonesia, said, "Bayer understands the crucial role of farmers as the frontline of national food providers. Therefore, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, we are paying greater attention to improving their welfare and quality of their lives."

"We hope that the 'Better Life Farming' program will help improve farmers’ quality of life so that they can continue to contribute positively to the Indonesian agricultural industry," said Laksmi.

-End-

Reference:

1. Rice Data Analysis of East Java Province 2019-2021- Central Statistics Agency of East Java