Amran Asks Regents And Governors To Anticipate Food Crisis Threats

Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman (Photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - Local governments (Pemda) throughout Indonesia are asked to be serious in order to move quickly to anticipate the threat of the world food crisis.

This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman. "For regents and governors throughout Indonesia, I ask for special attention for the agricultural sector, because this is a vital sector. If agriculture is problematic, the world can be problematic," he quoted Antara as saying.

The Minister of Agriculture emphasized this when opening the 2024 National Agricultural Development Planning Deliberation (Musrenbangtanas) which was attended by 1,500 representatives from provincial and district/city agricultural offices throughout Indonesia in a hybrid manner.

He said, Musrenbangtanas is an annual event held by the Ministry of Agriculture to unite ideas and formulate activity plans to accelerate agricultural development in the impact of climate change and the global food crisis.

Minister of Agriculture Amran in activities that last for five days June 25-28, and will resume on July 1, 2024, conveyed three things to representatives of the agricultural service to be forwarded to their respective regional leaders. "First, make sure the pumping program runs well," said Amran.

He said that pumping is a water distribution program from the river through the installation of pumps and pipes for rice fields irrigation, which is a quick solution to increase the Plantation Index (IP) and the amount of rice production amid El Nino's threat.

Amran asked the Provincial and City/Regency Agriculture Offices to take to the field to ensure the availability of water resources and pump needs so that this program can run smoothly and on target.

"Second, optimizing swampland (OPLA) must be pursued. And third, focus on developing gogo rice," he also said.

He explained that optimizing swampland is a Ministry of Agriculture's program to utilize swampland for agriculture, while gogo rice is a rice variety that is resistant to being planted on dry land.

The Minister of Agriculture emphasized the importance of synergy for the development of the agricultural sector in order to realize national food security.

"We can't do anything, we have to be strong together. If the district and provincial heads unite, we will shake the world and achieve a common dream of becoming a world food barn," said Amran.