Food Independent Program, South Sumatra Deputy Governor Invites Residents To Use Home Land For Farming

Research on urban farming in the yard by Unsri University researchers. (ANTARA/Yudi Abdullah/22)

SUMSEL - Deputy Governor of South Sumatra (Sumsel) Mawardi Yahya invites people in 17 districts and cities to succeed in the food self-sufficiency program launched at the end of 2021.

"To make the program a success, the community is encouraged to use the yard of the house to grow vegetables, fruits, and raise fish, chickens and others," said Deputy Governor Mawardi Yahya, in Palembang, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, May 24.

According to him, to increase food production, it can be done by intensifying, extensifying or expanding agricultural areas using unused or unproductive land, as well as optimizing land.

In addition, his party also invites the community to implement a food self-sufficiency program by utilizing the yard of residence by planting vegetables and fruits to raising livestock.

"The South Sumatra Food Independent Movement Program is expected to be a driving force for the community to carry out various activities that can produce food products to meet the needs of daily life," he said.

For people who so far have not used their home gardens with productive activities, they are expected to use it by planting vegetables, fruits, and raising livestock.

The South Sumatra Provincial Government seeks to encourage all parties and levels of society to carry out various activities that can increase food production in order to achieve food self-sufficiency.

"With the success of the program, not only does it reduce dependence on food supplies from other regions, but it is also hoped that it can improve people's welfare, grow the economy and reduce poverty," said the Deputy Governor.

While previously Lecturer at Unsri Palembang, Prof. Benyamin Lakitan, said to support the South Sumatra Food Independent Movement program, he together with a number of lecturers and students of the master's and doctoral programs in agriculture conducted research on the development of optimizing urban agricultural land (urban farming) with a pattern of three activities in one plot of land (3 in). 1).

Through the development of urban land optimization activities, which have a limited area, people can use their home yards by farming and raising livestock.

For example, the yard of his house in the housing complex in the Jakabaring area of Palembang, which has a limited area, is used for fish cultivation, various types of vegetables, fruits, and medicines.

The urban farming activity is carried out by means of three layers/activities in one place (3 in 1), namely the land with a fish pond is used for fish cultivation on it also used for vegetable and chili plants with floating raft technology and vines framework so that it can be used for cultivation. vegetable crops such as carrot and fruit such as grapes and melons that grow vines.

Through the optimization of urban agricultural land, it is hoped that the limited land area can still produce maximum food ingredients to meet the daily needs of the community and can even be sold to neighbors and markets as a side business for the family.

Urban communities are expected to be able to develop '3 in 1' agricultural cultivation in house yards even though the area is limited by making fish ponds and planting various types of vegetables and other useful plants on them.

With the development of urban agricultural activities, it is hoped that the community will be able to reduce dependence on food supplies from outside the region, whose prices in certain conditions increase, said the Unsri lecturer who had served as Research and Technology Sesmen in 2007.