North Sumatra Prepares an Oil Palm-Corn Cropping System Pattern

North Sumatra notes the potential of 48 thousand hectares of plantation land to be planted with corn in alternating planting pattern. The potential land is spread over 17 regencies. Director of the Perennial and Refreshment Crops of the Plantation Directorate General of the Ministry of Agriculture and also as the Person-in-Charge of the Special Effort of Pajale (Rice, Corn, and Soybean) of North Sumatra, Ali Jamil, said that up until mid-February, 9,000 hectares of plantation land has been integrated with corn plants. The land consists of plantation land owned by the people, the private sector, and the state. From the total of 9,000 hectares of plantation land, 200 hectares are owned by PTPN II as oil palm plantations. The first corn planting using the alternating planting system was done together with the Army Chief of Staff and the Minister of Agriculture in the oil palm area of PTPN II of the province of North Sumatra, Kodam I/BB in the Village of Tanjung Jati, in Langkat Regency. Ali said the potential of the land was included in the category of Plants that have not yet Produced (TBM), so it needs to be integrated with corn plants to give added value. With a three-month planting period, 1 hectare of land can produce 8 tons of corn. Thus, the potential of 48 thousand hectares can produce 384 thousand tons of corn in a single planting period. Technically-speaking, the integration pattern for oil palm - corn can be implemented from the initial phase of the oil plant's growth to the maximum shading limit of 70 percent or when the oil palm is more or less four years old. In addition to oil palm plantations, corn plants can be integrated with alternating planting patterns on rubber, coconut, and cashew plantations. The alternating planting pattern is deemed to be able to help increase the income of farmers since farmers will earn additional income from the alternating planting before the main crop produces. `We are encouraging private and government companies to use TBM land to support the government's program, in addition to making the company profitable. Right now, we are continuing to talk to GAPKI (the Indonesian Palm Oil Business Association),` he added. The Food Crop and Horticulture Service of North Sumatra has outlined a target to pursue the increase of the corn production target to 1.9 tons throughout this year, up from 1.6 million tons last year. The corn planting plan for October 2016 - September 2017 has a target of 292,729 hectares. In addition, the harvest target for January - December this year is at 302,922 hectares. Meanwhile, corn productivity is targeted to increase to be 6.3 tons per hectare. If this production can be achieved, North Sumatra will have a surplus of 888,292 tons of corn. Increasing the land area by utilizing the idle land owned by PTPN. Moreover, the Governor of North Sumatra, Tengku Erry Nuradi, said that there is a lot of empty land in North Sumatra that has not yet been utilized for seasonal crops or seasonal fisheries. With a three-month growing period, this integration can give added value to the farmers. `Thus, we hope the target for North Sumatra to become the country's food barn can be realized,` he said after the first planting in the Village of Tanjung Jati, Langkat Regency.
https://bisnis.tempo.co/read/news/2017/02/14/090846155/sumatera-utara-siapkan-pola-tumpang-sari-sawit-jagung