W Sumatra Targets 2.75 Million Tons of Rice Production

Padang, (Antaranews Sumbar) - West Sumatra Provincial Government is targeting paddy production of 2.75 million tons of dried unhulled rice (GKG) in 2018.

Head of Food Crops, Horticulture and Plantation Office of West Sumatra, Candra in Padang, on Friday, said to achieve the production target, it is done through intensification and extensification.

He explained that intensification is the processing of agricultural land in order to improve agricultural products by using various facilities while extensification is extension of previously abandoned and unused agricultural areas.

The process of intensification in West Sumatra is implemented through the application of production technology such as legowo row planting technique which can increase production from ten to 15 percent.

Legowo parallel system is planting rice by arranging the distance between seeds with more seeds planted on the edge and the center is emptied.

One of them is legowo 4:1 which is a legowo parallelogram where every four rows of plants are interspersed by a single aisle or empty row with two rows of edge crops and two rows of middle plants.

It is done with a spacing of 20 centimeters (between rows and the distance between plants in the middle row), with 10 centimeters (between edge plants) and 40 centimeters (range of blank lines).

"With the regulation of the distance between seeds, it can provide maximum radiation space and fertilizer which is easier to do," he said.

In addition to the increasing of rice production, he said legowo system can also reduce the disease and the level of pest attacks, such as rodent pests, it is because the middle position of rice in a state of empty so that it will reduce the impact. (cha)

Translator: Vicha Faradika