Opportunities for improving rice production in sub-obtimal lands South Kalimantan

Abstract

The wetland agroecosystem in South Kalimantan is very diverse and mostly is sub-optimal land such as rainfed area of 172,074 ha, tidal swamp 188,908 ha, swamp area 135,504 ha, while irrigated paddy fields are only 55,116 ha. Paddy fields that have been planted with rice and can be harvested in 2017 covering an area of 506,126 ha with average productivity of 4.46 t / ha resulting in a total grain of 2,258,261 tons. The productivity of lowland rice in South Kalimantan is still below the average national rice productivity which reaches 5.18 t/ha. The constraints on the production of wetland rice in South Kalimantan vary depending on the type of land such as fluctuations in water (flooding, droughts), acid soils, the presence of toxicity of elements, not yet optimal water management in the swamps land, drought, nutrient deficiency in rainfed land. The area of upland rice plantations in the dryland of South Kalimantan is 63,170 ha, generally local varieties with average productivity of 3.07 t/ha. The development obstacles of upland rice in dry land include soil acidity, low organic matter, nutrient deficiency, competition in land use with other food crops and plantation crops. Rice production in South Kalimantan still has the opportunity to increase in the planting area and productivity. With the gap exist between rice productivity and the potential yield of new superior varieties, the use of other cultivation technologies application still provide opportunities to increase rice productivity in South Kalimantan. The addition of lowland rice planting area can be done by utilizing un-cultivated paddy fields (74,817 ha), the increase in planting index (PI) which is still low (PI 200 is only 9.14%). The addition of upland rice fields can be done on dry land fields with an area of 345,669 ha, or intercropping on plantation land (rubber, oil palm) that has not yet produced (183,539 ha).