Bumper Harvest: Klungkung Corn Farmers Hope for Absorption by Free Nutritious Meal Programme

Corn farmers in Klungkung Regency, who are currently enjoying a bumper harvest, have placed high hopes on the presence of the Free Nutritious Meals Service Unit (SPPG MBG).

This season’s harvest is considered highly potential for direct absorption by SPPG units as raw material for animal feed as well as daily nutritional food for schoolchildren. Unfortunately, entering the second harvest stage, no SPPG has yet come to absorb the farmers’ produce.

This was conveyed by Nyoman Budi Arsa, one of the corn farmers in Klungkung. When met by detikBali on Wednesday (12/8/2026), Arsa admitted that he was still selling to the market.

“So far there has been no information. We hope someone will come to buy the harvest. Hopefully someone will come,” Arsa told detikBali.

Arsa himself admitted that this year’s harvest was far better than the previous year. From a land area of 15 are, he managed to harvest around 6,000 ears of corn. This season’s conditions are far more favourable compared to last year, which was marked by severe pest attacks that caused losses.

“This year the weather is much better and pests are few. The harvest is quite fast, only taking about 70 days or two months,” Arsa revealed.

In terms of quality, on average 3 ears of regular corn already reach a weight of 1 kilogram, while for super quality only 2 ears are needed per kilogram.

The improvement in quality and quantity has had a significant impact on farmers’ income. From a 15-are plot, farmers can sell to middlemen for Rp 5 million. This figure has jumped sharply compared to last year, when they only earned Rp 1 million due to pest attacks.

Currently, the price of super quality corn at the farm level ranges from Rp 2,000 to Rp 2,500 per ear, or around Rp 8,000 to Rp 12,000 per kilogram.

Seeing the abundant supply of fresh, high-quality local corn, Arsa and other farmers strongly hope their harvest can be purchased directly by SPPG MBG.

Direct purchase by the government programme is believed to guarantee market certainty while maintaining price stability at the local farmer level.