One of the corn development policies at the national level that is continuously being pushed by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs is the establishment of the National Corn Reserve (CJN) with Perum Bulog as the manager of the food reserve.
As a follow-up to the monitoring and evaluation of corn availability in the NTB Province and at the national level, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) at the Marina Inn Hotel, Bima Regency, Friday (11/19). The FGD was attended by the Director of Statistics for Food Crops, Horticulture and Plantations, Dr. Kadarmanto, M.A., head of BPS NTB Province Drs. Wahyudin, M.M, Head of BPS Kabupaten Bima Ir. Muhadi, Head of BPS Dompu Isa Regency, SE, M.M as well as representatives from institutions, ministries and local governments.
"The FGD aims to be a means of discussion for various stakeholders both from the center and from the regions in order to produce effective policy recommendations for maize development in the province of NTB and at the national level," said Assistant Deputy for Food/Deputy Secretary Muhammad Saifulloh who represented the Deputy for Food Coordination and Musdhalifah Machmud Agribusiness.
In planning the production process and estimating the profits that can be obtained, the stability of corn prices is the main key for farmers. "For this reason, the government needs to ensure the availability of sufficient stock as a means of price stabilization," said Head of the Operational Planning and Food Data Division of Perum Bulog, Epi Sulandri.
Collaboration and synergy from various stakeholders is also needed to ensure the availability of corn supply, so that both corn farmers and poultry farmers can still enjoy the benefits. In the assignment of corn procurement to meet the needs of poultry farmers who are the distribution target. BPS as a statistical data provider is committed to fully supporting the provision of sustainable and accurate maize data.
Several policy recommendations resulted from the implementation of the FGD, among others, encouraging discussion of policies on the provision of government corn reserves to stabilize corn supply and prices, strengthening port capacity to increase logistics cost efficiency, providing post-harvest facilities to maintain corn prices and quality during harvest season, evaluating Regulation of Cost of Corn Purchases, development of maize in an intercropping manner to prevent land damage in maize planting areas on mountain slopes specifically in Bima District, encouraging the construction of animal feed factories in NTB Province to increase maize absorption, and optimizing the use of warehouse receipts for maize commodity development. .
