Nusron Wahid: Food Estate Not Moved From Kalimantan To Merauke

Minister of ATR/Head of BPN Nusron Wahid. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) Nusron Wahid emphasized that the food barn or food estate project will not be moved from Kalimantan to Merauke.

To achieve the target of food self-sufficiency in 2027, continued Nusron, Indonesia needs at least 1.6 million hectares (ha) of land.

Therefore, continued Nusron, the food estate program in three areas, namely Kalimantan, Papua and Sumatra, continues.

"Food estate is not moved from Kalimantan to Merauke. Kalimantan is still running, Merauke is still running. Why? Because to achieve food self-sufficiency, we really need Kalimantan, Papua and Sumatra," he said in the media gathering at the Ministry of ATR/BPN office, Jakarta, Tuesday, December 31.

Nusron emphasized that it is important to carry out a food estate project outside Java to achieve the food self-sufficiency target.

Moreover, he continued, agricultural land in Java also continues to shrink between 100,000 ha to 150,000 ha every year.

"If agricultural land on the island of Java is consistent, it will continue to be corrected. So it still cannot achieve food self-sufficiency status. Therefore, the addition of new agricultural land is important," he said.

Furthermore, Nusron said that the correction to agricultural land generally occurs due to two reasons.

The first is the conversion into residential areas. Second, become an industrial area.

Humans need land for board and downstreaming. But humans at the same time need food. If all land is used to build houses, in the future what do people eat?, "he said.

For your information, the Prabowo Sunianto government plans to build food estates in Kalimantan, Papua and Sumatra. The three agricultural fields in the region have considered the potential for continued correction trends in agricultural land until 2029.

The potential for food estate agricultural land in Central Kalimantan reaches 1 million ha. Meanwhile, in Merauke 1.2 million ha, and in North Sumatra it covers 785 ha.