JAKARTA - Indonesian Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman welcomed the discourse of forming a farmer group for students initiated by the Indonesian State University Chancellor Council (MRPTNI).
"Students are the spearhead of the nation's future which must also have attention to the agricultural sector. Forming a farmer group is an idea that should be supported," he said in Padang, Saturday.
He said that while attending the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) which was held in Padang.
According to him, the government is currently facilitating the use of advanced technology such as drones, tractors, combine developers and rice mining machines that have been integrated with the drying system.
"If we run technology, young people will definitely want to farm. Therefore, I welcome the initiation of the formation of a farmer group. I am happy, and will support all the facilities to its infrastructure," he said, quoted by Antara.
The Minister of Agriculture also invited students to be directly involved in the Plant Area Expansion Program (PAT) by pumping as the main tool. This step needs to be taken considering that el nino or dry season is still continuing until it has an impact on domestic production.
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"The solution that we are currently intensifying is pumping as a joint effort to increase production. And now, we must collaborate with universities, especially students throughout Indonesia," he said.
Amran said that the pumping must run quickly considering that the government's target in the future is to make Indonesia a world food barn. In this way, Indonesia can increase the planting index three times from the previous one once a year.
"Of course we are optimistic that we can increase the planting index through pumping and mechanization. Moreover, modern agriculture has proven to be able to reduce costs by up to 60 percent so that farmers can prosper more quickly," he said.
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