Agriculture Minister: 14 Companies Agree To Assist In Cultivating 500,000 Hectares Of Rice Fields

ANTARA/HO-Humas Kementan

Agriculture Minister: 14 Companies Agree To Assist In Cultivating 500,000 Hectares Of Rice Fields

Wednesday, 06 Nov 2024

The Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, announced plans to create 500,000 hectares of rice fields in South Kalimantan. He highlighted that the land in this region has the potential to help meet Indonesia's food needs.

"We have mapped out the land for 500,000 hectares of rice fields. If we can make this happen, it will strengthen our food supply," Amran said during the 'Coordination Meeting for the People's Rice Field Program' in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on Monday (November 4, 2024). He mentioned that the target of 500,000 hectares will be pursued in stages.

In the first phase, the Ministry of Agriculture will start developing 152,291 hectares of rice fields across several districts, including Hulu Sungai Selatan, Hulu Sungai Tengah, Hulu Sungai Utara, Tanah Laut, and Tapin. This will be followed by expansion to other areas in South Kalimantan.

"Let's take this seriously; there will be a total of 500,000 hectares. I want to check each one later. If we can produce 2-3 times, this will boost our rice production," Amran added. He also mentioned that the rice field development will utilize technology for land preparation, planting, harvesting, and post-harvest processes.

The Ministry of Agriculture is partnering with several companies to speed up the creation of rice fields by providing agricultural tools and machinery. "Fourteen companies are committed to supplying around 2,000 tools for this purpose. We aim to expedite the process, and we have asked the Director General of Agricultural Infrastructure and Facilities to finalize contracts within 1-2 days, at most 3 days," said Amran.

During this event, agreements were signed by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Provincial Government of South Kalimantan, local district and city governments, military command, regional police, the High Prosecutor's Office, and Pupuk Indonesia. This signing represents a commitment to implement rice field development to boost rice production and support national food security.

"President Prabowo Subianto has requested that we accelerate the significant initiative of creating rice fields to achieve food self-sufficiency," Amran stated.