Dinas Pertanian Ajak Warga Gencar Tanam Pangan Lokal

Menyikapi masa pandemi Covid-19 yang kini melanda dunia, Dinas Pertanian Provinsi Papua menyerukan kepada seluruh masyarakat agar mulai gencar menanam pangan lokal.

Hal itu disampaikan Kepala Dinas Pertanian Papua, Semuel Siriwa, dalam kunjungan ke Merauke, baru-baru ini.

“Ketahanan Pangan pada masa Pandemi Covid cenderung melemah seperti data yang disampaikan badan dunia FAO, panen-panen di lumbung-lumbung pangan mulai turun”.

“Sehingga masyarakat kita imbau gencar tanam pangan lokal untuk bisa memenuhi kebutuhan hidupnya,” terang ia.

Ia katakan, Kabupaten Merauke yang saat ini menjadi lumbung tanaman padi di Papua, dengan total 39 ribu hektar target padi dari Januari – Desember 2020 atau 95 % dari target lahan padi di Papua saja, sudah mulai mengalami penurunan hasil panen.

Dimana penurunan luas tanam pada 2019 dilaporkan mencapai 49 ribu Hektar, sehingga guna menyingkapi melemahnya ketahanan pangan ini maka dibutuhkan diversifikasi tanaman lokal yang lagi-lagi wajib dipacu untuk menopang kebutuhan pangan masyarakat Papua.

“Kita harap seluruh kabupaten termasuk di Merauke tentunya, dapat memaksimalkan bantuan-bantuan pertanian dari pusat dan provinsi sebagai data pendukung pada Tahun Anggaran  2020”.

“Dimana ada kurang lebih benih padi sawah sebanyak 11 ribu, benih padi gogo 4 ribu, benih jagung dan alat-alat pertanian yang diberikan sehingga diharapkan bisa dimaksimalkan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan saat pandemi,” jelasnya.

Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic that is now sweeping the world, the Papua Provincial Agriculture Office is calling on all people to start aggressively growing local food.

This was conveyed by the Head of the Papua Agriculture Service, Semuel Siriwa, during a visit to Merauke, recently.

"Food security during the Covid pandemic tends to weaken, as data submitted by the world agency FAO, harvests in food barns have begun to decline".

"So that our people aggressively urge to plant local food to fulfill their daily needs," he explained.

He said, Merauke Regency, which is currently a granary for rice crops in Papua, with a total of 39 thousand hectares of rice target from January to December 2020 or 95% of the target rice land in Papua alone, has begun to experience a decline in yields.

Where the decline in planting area in 2019 is reported to reach 49 thousand hectares, so in order to address this weakening of food security, diversification of local plants is needed, which must be spurred to support the food needs of the Papuan people.

"We hope that all districts, including in Merauke can maximize agricultural assistance from the central and provincial levels as supporting data in the 2020 Fiscal Year".

"There are approximately 11 thousands lowland rice seeds, 4 thousands upland rice seeds, corn seeds and agricultural tools that are provided so they are expected to be maximized to meet the needs during the pandemic," he explained.