IRRC research scores high in Indonesia—SSNM for lowland rice

In early January 2006, the minister of agriculture of Indonesia signed a recommendation for site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) of lowland rice to be implemented starting next cropping season in March or April.

The rapid “roll-out” or dissemination of SSNM by the government of Indonesia (GOI) is linked to the high subsidy the government provides for fertilizers for rice—around 3 trillion rupiah per year (approximately US$300 million). The fertilizer industry has lobbied the GOI for further subsidy, given the recent increases in the price of oil. Also, there are concerns that, in some regions, the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is too high, which leads to environmental pollution. Therefore, the minister of agriculture requested a roll-out of best practices for fertilizer use, and the subsidy will be reviewed on the basis of subsequent usage patterns. SSNM is now being rolled-out in four islands—Java, Sumatera, Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi.

This initiative builds upon the long-term collaborative research supported by the IRRC. The main collaborators were Dr. Roland Buresh (IRRI) and a team of scientists in Indonesia led by Dr. Irsal Las (former director of the Indonesian Institute for Rice Research and currently the director of the Indonesian Center for Soil and Agroclimate Research and Development, ICSARD) and Dr. Suyamto (director of the Indonesian Center for Food Crop Research and Development, ICFORD).

A workshop on SSNM was organized in Medan, North Sumatera, in June 2005. Through that forum, scientists from national and provincial organizations endorsed the formation of a national working group on rice fertilization. This working group with scientists from ICSARD and ICFORD subsequently provided more than 1,000 location-specific fertilizer recommendations that will be refined through the use of the leaf color chart (LCC), a soil test kit, and omission-plot technique.

In January 2006, Dr. Roland Buresh and Dr. Christian Witt, director of the Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) of the Potash and Phosphate Institute, Potash and Phosphate Institute of Canada, and the International Potash Institute (PPI/PPIC-IPI), visited Bogor to discuss the Indonesian initiative with the directors of the lead institutes and present a seminar on SSNM to scientists. A training seminar on SSNM with about 50 participants was organized on 27 January in Malang, East Java, by ICFORD and the Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology for East Java. Dr. Buresh and Dr. Mahyuddin Syam, IRRI representative to Indonesia, participated in the training seminar and outlined guidelines for the use of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizers, and procedures for using the LCC, omission plot technique, and soil testing.

Attending the SSNM training seminar in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, were Dr. Sudarmadji (left), head of the Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology for East Java, and Dr. Suyamto, director of the Indonesian Center for Food Crop Research and Development (ICFORD). (Photo by R. Buresh)

Dr. Suyamto said, “The participants highly appreciated the guidelines provided by Dr. Buresh on the timing of applications of N-, P-, and K-based ferti-lizers, and procedures for using the leaf color chart, omission plot technique, and soil testing for SSNM. They will be used as a very important reference for further activities related to the implementation of the minister of agriculture’s decree on SSNM.”

This is an exciting development and provides a clear measure of the impact of IRRC research and NARES collaboration at a national level.
 

Grant Singleton (g.singleton@cgiar.org)

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