Government institutions, the provincial police and military command in South Sulawesi have started planting micro-organic onions in a bid to attain national food resilience.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo said the single-sliced onion was selected because it has been the main spice for the community.
"This is the way the army shows support for the national food resilience," Agustadi said.
For the first stage, he said, the liquid spore was spread over a 100-square-meter plot. Four hectares of farmland have been prepared for the project.
One hectare is in the yard of the Kodam VII/Wirabuana military command, while 3 hectares are in the compound of the army strategic command in Kariango, Maros regency.
"This is a pilot project. If the result is satisfactory, then we will develop the area by including all the army networks under the Kodam VII/Wirabuana jurisdiction," Agustadi said.
Kodam VII/Wirabuana territorial assistant Lt. Col. Marga Taufiq said that in the long run, the army would cooperate with the community, in which the army would provide the seedlings while the community would develop the farms.
"If this turns out a success, it will improve the people's welfare as the production rate of this particular variety is double that of ordinary onions," Marga said.
He added if a hectare of micro-organic onions could yield 60 tons, at Rp 3,000 a kilogram, then farmers would be able to make Rp 180 million.
"That's really something," he added.
Previously, the South Sulawesi provincial administration also ran a pilot project for the vegetable in the yard of governor's residence.
The result was considered a success, as the harvested onions weighed between 40 and 60 grams each.
Lalit Kumar Ratilar, manager of PT Mulia Kartika Nusantara, which produces the spores, said the onions had been developed for a long time in India.
In Indonesia, however, they were only just being tried out in the three South Sulawesi regions of Makassar, Gowa and Sidenreng Rappang.
"We use the same technology as in India to produce the spores, but the onion is a local variety," Kumar said.
He added it took 45 days to develop the spores into seedling, and another three months until they were ready to harvest.
A 1-hectare farm need 5 to 8 liters of liquid spores, yielding 40 to 60 tons of onions, Kumar said.
For the time being, he added, the spore had yet to be marketed as it needed extra care to develop into ready-to-plant seedlings.
"We can only provide farmers with ready-to-plant seedlings, but not yet the spores," he said, adding a tiny mistake could lead to a total failure in the process.
"If it was me developing the spores into seedlings, I'd need only between 5 to 8 liters of spores. Others would probably need up to 50 liters, as mishandling of the spores will just cause the spores to die," he said.
