Supporting Food Self-Sufficiency, Cita Sembada Programme Awarded Gold PROPER
Supporting food self-sufficiency has become a strategic agenda of President Prabowo’s government, requiring support from all parties. PT Pertamina Gas (Pertagas), as part of Pertamina’s Gas Subholding, is committed to supporting national food self-sufficiency.
PT Pertamina Gas Operation East Java Area (Pertagas OEJA) supports food self-sufficiency through its agricultural programme, Cita Sembada. This programme has successfully increased agricultural production tenfold, forming a strong foundation for building rural-based food self-sufficiency.
Concrete evidence of Cita Sembada is demonstrated by the harvest in Ganggang Panjang Village, Sidoarjo Regency, East Java. The harvest yield on 15 hectares of land, previously 2 tons per hectare, has now sharply increased to 7 tons per hectare.
The harvest period, previously only once a year, can now occur three times a year, resulting in total productivity increasing tenfold from 30 tons per year to 315 tons per year. This also proves that Pertagas not only builds infrastructure to support increased agricultural production but also fosters collective community awareness to preserve water resources and the environment.
The Cita Sembada programme has three main pillars as the foundation of its activities: Tirta Sembada, Dhana Sembada, and Bhumi Sembada. Tirta Sembada focuses on water independence, where Pertagas, together with the community, has built 562 metres of new irrigation networks and produced 41 ecopore holes from 164 ecobricks. The tarpaulin pipes from Pertagas OEJA in this programme create high frictional force, impacting fuel consumption by 585 litres per planting season.
Secondly, Bhumi Sembada strengthens village environmental resilience by building a sustainable waste management system. In this programme, Pertagas OEJA formed an integrated waste sorting group from upstream to downstream, encouraged waste management behaviour, rehabilitated waste collection points, and implemented Hot Berkeley composting.
The impact of Bhumi Sembada activities, Pertagas OEJA contributed to managing 180 tons of waste over six months with assistance from the Sidoarjo Regency Environment and Forestry Office. Phosphate content below 0.2 mg/litre from 50 household biopores, and management of 100 kg of organic waste per month through Hot Berkeley composting.
Dhana Sembada encourages community economic independence, focusing on empowering farmer groups and villagers to manage agricultural products productively and sustainably. In the Dhana Sembada programme, Pertagas OEJA provided branding training for the Punden Deco UMKM Programme, utilised 8.8 kWh solar panels as a renewable energy source, including the construction of the Tarung Reco Aviary Garden, and involved Keswa patients in the Punden Deco UMKM activities.
The impacts include Punden Deco having a social media account for promotion, a 50% reduction in operational costs through solar panel utilisation, and involvement of 32 vulnerable group members and Keswa patients in UMKM.
All these positive impacts have led Pertagas OEJA to receive the Gold PROPER award from the Ministry of Environment (KLH). Pertagas OEJA is assessed as successfully creating sustainable programmes that provide real benefits to the community and preserve sustainability in its operational areas. The award was presented by the Minister of Environment/Head of the Environment Control Agency (BPLH), Hanif Faisol Nurofiq, to Pertagas President Director Indra P Sembiring.