Amid The Issue Of The Food Crisis, Indonesia Remains Optimistic For Growing Agricultural Exports

Photo: Doc. Antara

MINAHASA - Inspector General of the Ministry of Agriculture Jan Samuel Maringka during a working visit to Minahasa Regency is optimistic that the value of Indonesia's agricultural exports from year to year will continue to grow.

"In 2019 the realization of the value of agricultural exports reached almost IDR 390 trillion, in 2020 it reached IDR 451 trillion and in 2021 it reached IDR 625 trillion," said Maringka while conducting monitoring and evaluation of the Ministry of Agriculture's program in North Sulawesi Province, quoted by Antara, Monday 10 October.

This dynamic means that agricultural exports continue to increase and will increase again.

"I proved that last May through Bitung Port, we have released export products whose value reaches around Rp. 1.2 trillion. What does that mean? Export results from the agricultural sector show such high value in the North Sulawesi region," he said.

According to Inspector General, the increasing export value cannot be separated from the services of farmers, as well as the agricultural office that is the driving force.

"Well, like it or not, like it or not, when the world faces a food crisis, we must be proud that Indonesia, especially in North Sulawesi, the agricultural program process can run," he said.

The running of this agricultural program can be seen from the availability of rice, corn, chili, tomatoes as well as agricultural products and other sectors.

"Open the door there is rice, open the door there is corn, there is chili, there is tomatoes, there is meat, there is fish, we have no difficulty," he said.

Maringka reminded that this condition should not be complacent because it is a supervisory program that is being carried out now that we lead to efforts called 'food guards'.

"Keeping this food is a form of program carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture to monitor so that these agricultural programs can run on time, on quality and on target," he explained.

The Regent of Minahasa, Royke Octavian Roning, expressed his appreciation to the Ministry of Agriculture for responding to the needs of farmers in the district.

"Thank you for the choice of Minahasa Regency to be the place where the Ministry of Agriculture's Monitoring and Evaluation Program activities are carried out in North Sulawesi," he said.

Regent Roning then poked fun at the availability of subsidized fertilizers which sometimes arrive after the planting season, as well as the need for seeds.

"We hope that these things (the availability of subsidized fertilizers and seeds) can get attention," he hoped.

After giving the speech, Inspector General Maringka, together with Ministry of Agriculture officials distributed assistance to Minahasa Regency, Bolaang Mongondow Regency, North Minahasa Regency and South Minahasa Regency and Southeast Minahasa Regency, as well as farmer groups.