By Faridat Salifu
Indonesia is strengthening agricultural mechanisation in South Papua with a major investment in modern farming equipment and production inputs aimed at increasing food production, improving farmers’ productivity and advancing national food security.
Speaking on Saturday, during a rice field development and land optimisation programme covering 137,000 hectares in Waninggap Kai Village, Merauke District, South Papua, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman announced agricultural assistance worth Rp1.3 trillion (about US$70 million) for the 2026 fiscal year.
Sulaiman said the support package is designed to accelerate the transition to modern, mechanised agriculture while strengthening the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and improving farmers’ livelihoods.
The assistance includes 122 combine harvesters, 810 two-wheeled tractors, 477 four-wheeled tractors, 12 agricultural drones and 1,188 water pumps to support large-scale cultivation across the region.
The government also distributed three million kilograms of fertiliser, 22,000 tonnes of subsidised fertiliser, 36,229 kilograms of pesticides, 12 power threshers, and coconut seeds and seedlings valued at Rp12.2 billion to enhance crop and plantation production.
According to the minister, the expansion of mechanised farming has already increased Merauke’s cropping intensity to two planting seasons annually, exceeding Indonesia’s national average of between 1.6 and 1.7 cropping cycles each year.
He noted that farmers in South Papua are increasingly adopting modern technologies such as agricultural drones, rice transplanters, combine harvesters and advanced tractors, placing farming practices in the region on par with those in countries including China, Japan and the United States.
Sulaiman also described the programme as an investment in human capital, saying it is equipping young people with the skills required to operate modern agricultural machinery and sustain agricultural productivity over the long term.
He urged beneficiaries to protect and make effective use of the equipment, stressing that the public investment is intended to increase production, improve farmers’ incomes and strengthen Indonesia’s food security through technology-driven agriculture.
