Kediri Government Distributes 200 Tonnes of Corn Seeds to Support Food Security

The Kediri Regency Government, East Java, has distributed 200 tonnes of corn seeds to farmers as part of an effort to support food security. Kediri Regent Hanindhito Himawan Pramana stated that the government-provided corn seeds are designated for 683 farmer groups across 26 districts in Kediri Regency. The seed assistance, valued at IDR 19 billion, is intended to help farmers. “We are not stopping here, because after the seeds we still have assistance for agricultural machinery, the quantity of which will be announced later,” he said after symbolically distributing the corn seed aid to four farmer groups on agricultural land in Nambaan Village, Ngasem District, Kediri Regency, on Tuesday. He added that the distributed corn seeds are sufficient to plant corn on land covering an area of 13,300 hectares. The Kediri Regency Government supports farmers in planting corn as one of the region’s leading commodities to support food security. He also mentioned that in addition to corn seeds and the provision of agricultural machinery, the government is providing assistance with land cultivation and fertiliser supply. Furthermore, the government is ensuring post-harvest price stability for leading agricultural commodities in Kediri Regency, so that farmers can also gain profit. “Post-harvest, the usual complaint is uncertain prices. For the corn commodity, the price has been set at IDR 5,500 per kilogram, absorbed by Bulog,” he said. As a food commodity, the current corn planting area in Kediri Regency reaches 56,000 hectares, with total production reaching 392,000 tonnes. Based on this data, each hectare of land can produce an average of 7 tonnes of corn. The Regent also encouraged farmers to be more enthusiastic in cultivating food crops, so that they can eventually increase the amount of agricultural production. Meanwhile, a farmer from Wonorejo Village, Puncu District, Ahmad Rudianto, said that land in his village can produce 9 tonnes of corn per hectare. He said that one of the keys to the success of the high yield is soil cultivation. In addition, organic fertiliser is also massively applied so that the soil becomes fertile. The fertiliser composition is 70 percent organic fertiliser.