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BNI and Ministry of Agriculture expand ‘Gerakan Kawal Musim Tanam’ OKMAR 2018/2019 to Sulawesi

Pinrang, January 29, 2019 – The realize the mutual commitment to improve the welfare of Indonesian farmers, PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk or BNI and the Ministry of Agriculture have expanded their program called Gerakan Mengawal Musim Tanam (GMMT, Movement to Safeguard the Planting Season) OKMAR 2018/2019 to Pinrang, South Sulawesi.

GMMT is an integrated movement to assist farmers in carrying out all procedures during planting season, in order to make sure that every phase along the agricultural production process runs according to schedule.

The inauguration of GMMT in Pinrang took place on January 29, on a 3-hectare area in Maritengngae village. The agricultural area in the village is part of a total of 1,484 hectares of land in Suppa District.

Pinrang was chosen to be the eighth regency for this nationwide program because it had entered the planting period for October 2018 to March 2019 in the rainy season. As harvest was projected to fall in February and March 2019, the movement was an effort to ensure the success of harvest.

Officials attending the event were the Head of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Subsidized Fertilizer Sub-Directorate Uray Suhartono; General Manager of BNI Small Business Division Bambang Setyatmojo; Head of BNI Makassar Business Banking Jeff Roberto; Pinrang Regent Andi Aslam Patonangi and Head of Pinrang District Agriculture Agency Andi Tjallo Kerrang. There were more than 500 farmers participating in the event.

For farmers participating in GMMT, BNI provides cheap and easy financing with assistance during planting season. When the harvest time comes, farmers will certainly get standby buyers or offtakers, especially farmers in the food crop sector in various food production centers in Indonesia. This program creates synergy between state-owned enterprises and the Ministry of Agriculture.

As stated by Bambang Setyatmojo, the movement was a manifestation of BNI's contribution to the welfare of farmers. GMMT OKMAR 2018/2018 is expected to be one of the pillars of government programs to improve farmer productivity, income distribution and poverty alleviation.

"BNI will continue to help in the development of the Indonesian economy, such as through channeling finance for all farmers so they can realize a prosperous and independent Indonesian society," he said.

Andi Aslam Patonangi expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Agriculture and BNI for the implementation of the guard movement during planting season in Pinrang Regency, which was incorporated in GMMT because it was one of the agricultural centers in South Sulawesi Province, with the potential of more than 53,000 hectares of agricultural land.

Uray Suhartono emphasized that the Ministry of Agriculture and BNI carried out this movement to create synergy between state-owned enterprises and the government in the providing assistance in cultivation, in order to increase farm production.

Financial support for this movement is channeled through the KUR micro business credit scheme and BNI’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.

BNI provided CSR assistance in the form of a labor-intensive community empowerment program called Padat Karya Tunai (PKT). With the participation of around 300 farmers, one of the activities under the PKT program was the normalization of 2 kilometers of irrigation channels in Maritengngae village. The PKT was carried out to provide supporting infrastructure for agricultural areas included in the GMMT OKMAR 2018/2019.

Among the highlighted moments in the event were the mass planting of various commodities by 500 farmers and the distribution of Farmers’ Cards, as well as the disbursement of KUR to 102 agricultural debtors, which adds to BNI’s portfolio of channeling micro business credit. As of December 31, 2018, BNI had disbursed Rp15.99 trillion of KUR to 147,691 recipients throughout Indonesia.

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