The agricultural sector is one of the main pillars of West Java's economy. Development in this sector requires strong synergy between the central government, local governments, and all relevant stakeholders.

The achievement of food crop commodities in 2024 in West Java is also high, especially for the rice production target according to the results of the MoU with the central government, which is 11,084,635 tons of milled dry grain (MDG).

Acting Governor of West Java Bey Machmudin said that the increase in production is sought to be achieved by increasing the planting area through two strategies, namely Increasing the Planting Index (PIP) and Expanding the Planting Area (PAT) which is carried out, among others, through land optimization and pompanization.

Bey explained that the progress of refocusing pompanization in West Java had been handed over 100 percent or 7,033 units to farmer groups and utilized by 82.62 percent or 5,811 units.

"The other day I visited Tegal Panjang Village, Cariu Subdistrict, Bogor Regency to see the harvest. The area is 3,000 hectares and the average yield is 5.4 to 5.6 tons of GKG per hectare.

The use of pumps utilizes the Cihoe River," said Bey Machmudin, during the working visit of Indonesian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono in the framework of the Implementation of Agricultural Development Programs in West Java, at Graha Manggala Siliwangi, Bandung City, Wednesday (7/8/2024).

"The interesting thing I found is that the use of gas fuel (BBG) for this pump has proven to be much more efficient than gasoline. Production cost savings are significant from Rp100,000 to Rp150,000 per day using gasoline to only Rp25,000 per day with BBG," he added.

Bey also thanked the Ministry of Agriculture for the additional budget support to West Java Province for 1,110 units, consisting of 225 provincial units, 885 district/city units for pumping irrigation and 990 units for piped irrigation.

No less important, continued Bey, it is also necessary to improve the quality of human resources in the agricultural sector through an intensive Agricultural Extension program.

Bey also revealed that the challenges in the agricultural sector are very complex, ranging from climate change, land limitations to problems of distribution and marketing of agricultural products.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono said, based on geographical conditions, West Java in some areas is hilly. It is not uncommon for water sources to be lower than agricultural land.

"In West Java there is a geographical condition, the water source is below, the land is above, so immediately report it to the Director of Irrigation. If there is something similar, then this is our target to provide a pumping irrigation program," said Sudaryono.

"The Ministry of Agriculture's pumping program provides pumps, and also transfers money to farmer groups so that they can build on the cliffs with pipes," he added.

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