Despite the decline, Kerinci's rice production is still the highest

Rice production data is very important for policy makers to make decisions on Indonesia's food security. Prior to 2018, the calculation of these figures was carried out using the eye estimate method which is subjective, so it is possible to produce estimates that are not on target. Over time, improvements and refinements to the method of calculating rice harvested area have been continuously made based on more objective observations (objective measurement). Since 2018, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has used the Shell Sample Area (KSA) method developed by BPPT and BPS and has received recognition from LIPI to calculate rice harvested areas and carry out tile surveys to estimate rice productivity figures. The result of multiplying the two numbers (rice harvested area and rice productivity) produces rice production figures. BPS Jambi Province through the Official Statistics News (BRS) stated that the total rice harvested area of ​​Jambi Province in 2021 was 64.41 thousand hectares and the total rice production in 2021 was 298.15 thousand tons of GKG. This figure has decreased from 2020, where there was a decrease of 24.02 percent for harvested area and 22.84% for rice production. In line with this, the decline in harvested area also occurred in almost all districts/cities in Jambi Province, including Kerinci District. The rice harvested area in Kerinci reaches 19,425 hectares for 2020 and 16,128 hectares for 2021. Although it is said to be declining, this number is the highest in Jambi Province. If we look at the current conditions, namely 2022, the estimation of rice production is carried out using provisional figures because it still uses the figures for the potential harvest area and productivity of Subround I 2021. The provisional figures for rice production in 2022 are compared with rice production in 2021 which shows a decline in rice production in 2021. January 2022 and an increase in rice production in February-April 2022 in Kerinci Regency. Nevertheless, Kerinci Regency still shows the highest production position among other regencies/cities in Jambi Province. This decline cannot be denied because the increasing number of developments in Kerinci Regency which causes the rice harvest area to decrease which has an impact on the total rice production decreases as well.