Ministry of Agriculture's BRMP encourages UPJA to develop agricultural biomass economy

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Agricultural Assembly and Modernisation Agency (BRMP) of the Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging the transformation of agricultural machinery service units (UPJA) into an integrated agricultural service business model. This model would not only provide agricultural tools and machinery but also manage the potential of biomass or agricultural residue.

Agung Prabowo, an engineer at BRMP Agricultural Mechanisation (Mektan), stated that UPJA can be developed to capture the economic potential of agricultural biomass for various needs, ranging from livestock feed, compost raw materials, and briquettes to mushroom growing media and bioethanol.

“That is the kind of UPJA we hope for to handle crop residue in the future. UPJA should consider that plant residue is a resource, no longer something that must be discarded,” said Agung during the National Multistakeholder Dialogue titled “Scaling Up Crop Residue Management through Mechanisation and Custom Hiring in Indonesia” in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Agung noted that some UPJA have already evolved towards ‘UPJA 2.0’, or integrated mechanisation service providers. This model allows farmers to use UPJA services for everything from land preparation, planting, and irrigation to maintenance and harvesting.

However, BRMP is currently pushing for the transformation of UPlag towards the ‘UPJA 3.0’ concept, which integrates mechanisation services, biomass management, and digital services. Management would be conducted based on land clusters rather than separately for each individual farmer.

For example, in a 100-hectare land cluster, a UPJA could first map land requirements, such as nutrient levels and soil moisture conditions. The UPJA would then organise the fleet of agricultural machinery, planting and harvesting schedules, and determine how agricultural residue will be handled and where the biomass will be marketed.

Under this concept, a UPJA would perform at least five functions: as a machinery service provider, a biomass collector, a biomass logistics provider, a biomass processor, and a biomass market aggregator.

“Why an aggregator? Because the UPJA must act as the link between the biomass and the market, rather than farmers acting partially,” he said.

Agung stated that agricultural biomass can be utilised for livestock feed, compost, briquettes, mushroom growing media, and even as raw material for bioethanol. On the other hand, the demand for biomass from various sectors is also seen as a way to continuously open new economic opportunities.

In addition to the significant potential for raw materials, the existence of UPJA serves as institutional capital to develop a biomass business ecosystem. BRMP noted that there are approximately 500 legally incorporated UPJA across various regions in Indonesia, in addition to UPJA that have developed independently.

However, the development of the biomass business still faces challenges, such as low residue density, high moisture content during harvest, the shrinking window between harvest and planting, land fragmentation, and inconsistent market certainty.

Therefore, BRMP is encouraging an integrated residue management model. The initial stage involves mapping land and biomass, followed by organising harvest schedules and determining residue utilisation pathways.

Through this model, BRMP hopes that UPJA can evolve from being mere mechanisation service providers into business actors capable of creating added value from biomass while opening new revenue streams for the agricultural ecosystem.