Corn is an essential food crop in Indonesia, ranking as the second cereal commodity cultivated in the country after rice. Some regions rely on corn as a staple food, and it serves as a crucial component in livestock feed and various industries, including the production of bioethanol. Corn is now gaining recognition as a functional food due to its fiber content, which is essential for human health. This underscores the significant role of corn in Indonesian society, both in the livestock feed industry and beyond.
The national demand for corn is on the rise, driven by population growth and advancements in the feed and food industries. From 2009 to 2013, corn production in Indonesia experienced fluctuations, reaching its lowest point at 17.64 million tons in 2011 and peaking at 19.39 million tons in 2012, with an annual growth rate of 1.89% (BPS, 2014). Ministry of Agriculture data (2019) indicates that production reached 18.51 million tons in 2013 and increased to 28.92 million tons in 2017, a 56.24% increase. This growth has contributed to the national productivity of corn. The average annual productivity increase was 2.3% from 2013 to 2016, but it experienced a 1.5% decline in 2017.
Domestic market demand and export opportunities for corn commodities continue to rise annually, meeting the needs of the domestic feed and food industries and requiring large quantities for export. This situation presents a potential market opportunity for farmers engaged in corn cultivation. Therefore, enhancing corn production, both in quality and quantity, is crucial to meet the growing demand.
To address the increasing demand for corn, improving productivity is essential. This includes releasing high-yielding varieties with resistance to major diseases. Increased productivity directly contributes to meeting the national corn demand. The use of varieties resistant to pest attacks and adaptable to unpredictable weather conditions will enhance the stability of national corn productivity.
Releasing hybrid corn varieties in Indonesia involves several testing activities, such as testing the adaptation of candidate corn varieties in various corn development centers, testing resistance to diseases like rust and leaf blight in endemic areas, testing seed production potential in candidate seed production locations, and proximate analysis in accredited laboratories.
High-yielding varieties with diverse adaptations to global climate change are the hope for farmers to increase productivity and improve their well-being. This is related to the diverse agroecology of corn development in Indonesia and the current global climate change. One effort to obtain superior varieties with high yield potential and location adaptability is through the development of new hybrid varieties domestically.
The adoption of superior hybrid corn varieties also shows a significant trend, with farmers increasingly relying on hybrid corn seeds to support their cultivation efforts. The high demand for hybrid corn has prompted both the government and private sector to contribute to the development of new superior varieties. The Ministry of Agriculture, through the Agricultural Research and Development Agency, has produced several hybrid corn varieties from 2014 to 2020, including Nasa 29, JH 37, Bima 9, Bima 10, Bima 11, Bima 14, and HJ 21, with a yield potential of > 12 tons/ha and good adaptation to various agroecosystems.
To expand the network of hybrid corn seed breeders, efforts include increasing the resources of breeders from government institutions, private entities, and independent breeders. Trained seed breeders can then share their expertise with other seed breeders, enhancing the human resource capacity for corn seed breeding in Indonesia.
Transferring the capabilities of corn researchers as a source of knowledge and technology is also essential for researchers both domestically and internationally.
Until 2024, BRIN aims to release five hybrid corn varieties. Corn research activities are conducted by the Research Organization for Agriculture and Food (OR PP) at the Research Center for Food Crops (PR TP). The purpose of training is to enhance the capabilities of human resources researchers in releasing and producing hybrid corn seeds using innovations from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and cultivation technology in the field to support land productivity improvement according to standards/SOPs, training and guidance in cultivation, nutrient management, pest and disease management, post-harvest, and seed certification are required. One common challenge in hybrid corn development is the gap between research-level production and farmer-level production. Suboptimal use of genetic potential in hybrid corn seeds may be attributed, in part, to farmers not fully mastering hybrid corn cultivation technology. The diverse agroecosystem conditions also contribute to the variation in farmers' corn yield levels.
