Evaluation of the certified citrus commercial seedlings distribution program for citrus fruit supply stability

Abstract

Nurseries belong to the upstream hierarchy in the production chain hence, play an integral role in sustainable food production. The Indonesian Citrus and Subtropical Fruits Research Institute (ICSFRI) between 2018 and 2020, distributed 296,297 certified citrus commercial seedlings for East and Central Java provinces. Meanwhile, an evaluation of the program showed that it is applicable as a reference to improve and forecast stability in citrus fruit supply. This study was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics, meanwhile, a total of twenty citrus varieties were distributed. The main variety distributed in East and Central Java were tangerine cv Pontianak and mandarin cv Batu55 respectively, while three regencies in East Java and two in Central Java were sampled as the study locations, thereafter, a total of 73 beneficiary farmers were selected as respondents. The result showed that the death rate for distributed seedlings was relatively low, with the tangerine cv Pontianak indicating the highest death compared to mandarin cv Madura. This implies that the supply of tangerine and mandarin is expected to increase approximately by three thousand tons within the next two to three years. Besides this amount is predicted to consitute 3% of import in 2019. However, to actualize this, improvement in water availability, weather forecast, as well as farmer empowerment need to be considered to meet up with citrus supply, both in quantity and quality.