Ministry Of Agriculture Prepares Steps To Handle Damage To Agricultural Land Due To Natural Disasters

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) has prepared a number of steps to deal with the impact of agricultural land damage due to the eruption and cold lava floods of Mount Marapi that hit West Sumatra Province (West Sumatra).

"First, the government, in this case the Ministry of Agriculture, together with the local government, has prepared a brigade of agricultural tools and machinery in three affected districts/cities, namely Agam Regency, Tanah Datar Regency, and Padang Panjang City," said Secretary of the Department of Plantation, Food Crops and Horticulture. West Sumatra Province Ferdinal Asmin in Padang, quoted from Antara, Monday 27 May.

Ferdinal said that the need for agricultural equipment and machinery also requires a number of other equipment, including mini excavators, and tractors to normalize agricultural land covered by eruptive materials.

The next step is to carry out a movement to deal with the impact of disasters with the community (especially farmers) through mutual cooperation to clean irrigation networks, and land covered by eruptive materials so that they can be cultivated again.

"The government will provide agricultural production infrastructure (mainly seeds and fertilizers) so that farmers can carry out their agricultural production activities," he said.

In addition, the relevant agencies also detailed the area of agricultural land affected by the eruption since it first occurred on December 3, 2023, followed by cold lava floods on Saturday (11/5). The details are rice covering an area of 4,416.54 hectares (Ha) and 1,098.28 Ha corn plants.

Furthermore, he continued, 155.10 Ha chili plants, 32.60 Ha shallots, and 288.55 Ha vegetables with a total of 5,971.08 Ha. Of the affected areas, 1,180.39 Ha were included in the puso category.

He said the government had also submitted proposals to the Ministry of Agriculture regarding a number of agricultural equipment and machinery needs, including the seeds needed for farmers.

The needs are three excavator units, 10 tractor units, 150 tons of rice seeds, 20 tons of corn seeds, 2,200 sachets of chili seeds, 50 tons of shallot seeds, 12,390 sachets of tomato seeds and 594,000 sweet potato stems.

Not only that, he said, to restore agricultural land damaged by the eruption and cold lava floods of Mount Marapi, the community in Agam Regency, Tanah Datar Regency and Padang Panjang City also need 6,000 tons of fertilizer.

Previously, Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman said that he had prepared agricultural assistance worth Rp33.34 billion as an effort to increase agriculture in West Sumatra, including to help flood and landslide victims in Agam Regency.