Minister Of Agriculture Support For West Sulawesi Kembangkan 2.000 Hectare Lahan Padi

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo supports West Sulawesi Province to develop 2,000 hectares of agricultural land to increase rice production in this area.

"The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) will support the Province of West Sulawesi in increasing the area of rice planting and becoming a food self-sufficiency area," said the Minister of Agriculture while attending the 400-hectare rice harvest in Kalukku District, Mamuju Regency, quoted by Antara, Sunday.

He said the central government would help West Sulawesi develop an area of rice plants of up to 2,000 hectares to increase national rice production.

"However, for the first stage, it will be assisted in developing up to 1,000 hectares first, then 1,000 hectares will be continued," he said.

He said the central government hopes that farmers will be more prosperous with the expansion of the rice plant area.

According to him, West Sulawesi is an agricultural area that is suitable for developing rice crops so that local governments are asked to continue to be committed to advancing the agricultural sector.

Meanwhile, Acting Governor of West Sulawesi Akmal Malik asked district governments in West Sulawesi to start mapping land that can be used to develop rice crops.

In addition, he said, he made efforts to improve agricultural facilities and infrastructure by utilizing the assistance that would be sent down by the central government.

He requested that the development of the agricultural sector, especially rice crops, be focused more on every region in West Sulawesi to deal with the threat of a food crisis.

"The West Sulawesi area has the most opportunity to become an agricultural area that relies on the agricultural sector because it is supported by a large area of West Sulawesi, this must be used to encourage regional economic development," he said.

Rice farming land in West Sulawesi is currently based on 64,000 hectares with production reaching 178 thousand tons per year.