Through Pumpization, The Minister Of Agriculture Wants East Java's Agricultural Productivity To Increase To Suppress Rice Imports

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman continues to strive to increase the area of planting and productivity of agriculture in East Java (East Java) Province through a pumping system to suppress rice imports.

"We installed this pump so that the one that previously planted it could be three times, meaning that we can achieve it later, from East Java alone, the target for an increase of 2 million tons at least 1 million tons could cover 50 percent of our imports (rice) from only one province," Amran said quoting Antara.

He conveyed that the Alert Apple was intended to increase the area of planting and agricultural production through pumping activities.

Minister Amran said this pumping was a quick and precise solution in dealing with agriculture due to the El Nino phenomenon.

El Nino has a significant impact on the agricultural sector. A clear big impact is the decline in food production, especially rice nationally in 2023," Amran said in an official statement in Jakarta.

The Minister of Agriculture also said that pumping will have a positive impact in meeting production targets for national food needs this year.

"This pump is a quick solution to handle El Nino, because this pump can help farmers grow and produce quickly and maximally, if we build new rice fields it will take one, two or even three years, but if this pumping can increase production quickly," explained the Minister of Agriculture.

Amran further said that as one of the national food barn areas, East Java Province has an area of approximately 380,000 hectares of rainsheds.

Therefore, Amran is optimistic that the pumping system will be able to maximize rice planting in the 380,000 hectares of land. That way, East Java will certainly be able to cover 50 percent of the national rice demand, which in recent years has been met from imports.

Amran added that the Ministry of Agriculture has allocated 3,700 water pump units to be distributed to 21 districts and cities in East Java. The pump assistance is worth Rp113.9 billion with an estimated coverage of 60,165 hectares.

In the same place, Acting Governor of East Java, Adhy Karyono, said that the province still maintains its position as the largest rice production in Indonesia.

Adhy said that in 2020-2023, East Java's contribution reached 17.9 percent of national rice production. With the achievement of rice production in 2023 of 9.7 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice or the equivalent of 5.6 million tons of rice.

"This year because El Nino's impact had a significant impact on the agricultural sector, causing the growing pattern and production pattern of agriculture in East Java to change, but today we are given quite a lot of assistance, 3,700 water pumps, with this pomponization, we believe the water problem can be met," said Adhy.