Pelaihari, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Head of the Tanah Laut Food Crops, Horticulture and Plantation Office (Distanhorbun) Faried Widiatmoko said the annual demand for shallot reaches 974.8 tons.
"While local production is about 91.35 ton, the deficit in shallot demand reaches 883 tons supplied from outside Kalimantan" said Faried in Pelaihari, Tanah Laut District, Wednesday (July 16, 2025).
This condition, he said, causes shallot prices to fluctuate greatly, particularly when bad weather distrupts distribution.
"That's why we must stengthen local production,” he said at a Horticulture Fiel Meeting at the Karya Tani Farmers Group's land, Pelaihari Sub-district.
Tanah Laut's potential horticultural planting area reaches 1,849 hectares.
Read also: Tanah Laut introduces South Kalimantan's horticultural village
Read also: Agriculture Ministry assists Tanah Laut's 83 food brigades with alsintan
He said for 2025 the development of shallots, cayenne chilies, and large chilies to be focused on more than 40 villages with funding support from the regional (APBD) and national budget (APBN).
To accelerate the process, he said, transfer of technology could be done with shallot farming center in Probolinggo and Nganjuk, East Java.
The same approach has been successfully implemented for seedless watermelons in collaboration with farmers from Banyuwangi.
“If all parties work together with farmers, extension workers, and the government, then shallot self-sufficiency in Tanah Laut will not just be a discourse,” said Faried.
Regent of Tanah Laut H Rahmat Trianto at the event delivered five directives, namely increasing interest in cultivation, collective use of agricultural tool and machinery (Alsintan).
Besides, he said, improving farmer capacity, adaptively managing production challanges, expanding market acces, and stengthening farmer intitutions.
The event was also attended by representatives of Forkopimda (the district leadership coordination forum), the South Kalimantan Food Security and Agriculture Office, as well as government working units( SKPDs), extension workers, and farmer groups.
Read also: Tanah Laut distributes tools and agricultural machinery to farmers
Read also: Regents and farmers group harvest corn
