Knowing What Food Estate Is, The Government Program Is Running By Several Ministries Including The Ministry Of Defense

Illustration of Food Estate (Doc. Antara)

YOGYAKARTA - Secretary General of the PDI-P Hasto Kristiyanto criticized the food estate project under the Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto. He said that the project was an environmental crime. Apart from that, do you know what a food estate is?

Quoted from the Indonesia Good website, food estate is the concept of food development which in practice is carried out in an integrated manner ranging from agriculture, plantations, to livestock.

The definition of food estate can also be understood as an area that is designated as a new food barn in Indonesia, quoted from the plant site pangan.ketaniman.go.id.

This food estate program is actually one of the policies of the Indonesian government initiated by President Jokowi. Even the program is included in the 2020-2024 National Strategic Program (PSN).

In practice, commodities developed through food estate include chili, rice, cassava, corn, peanuts, and even potatoes. This project is also carried out in several areas in Indonesia such as Central Kalimantan, North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY), West Java, Central Java, East Java, including Papua.

The government then handed over the cultivation of the food estate project to several ministries, one of which was the Ministry of Defense. President Jokowi also appointed Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to lead the food estate in the Central Kalimantan area.

When the idea of a food barn began to be campaigned, Jokowi immediately appointed the Minister of Defense as the leader of a food barn project for the region in Central Kalimantan. Food estate development will then begin in Central Kalimantan starting in mid-2020.

The food estate project was carried out in the existing rice field area with an area of approximately 30,000 hectares in several areas including Pulang Pisau Regency 10,000 hectares and Kapuas Regency 20,000 hectares. Then in 2021 the manufacture of food barns in Central Kalimantan will be increased to 44,135 hectares.

Quoted from VOI, Prabowo even said that he had targeted the capacity of the cassava land as one of the 1.4 million hectare commodities in Indonesia by the end of 2025. This was conveyed after Defense Minister Prabowo followed the food estate flat on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

Unfortunately, the food estate program, which was commanded by the Ministry of Agriculture in Central Kalimantan, failed, as evidenced by the stalled rice fields with an area of 600 hectares. In addition, there are 17,000 hectares of rice fields which apparently encounter obstacles that cannot be harvested.

The number of food estate constraints under the Ministry of Defense then sparked a lot of criticism, one of which was PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto. He said that the food estate project or food barn was part of environmental crime. This criticism was made when Hasto responded to the alleged flow of environmental crime funds with a value of at least Rp. 1 trillion to political parties in preparation for the 2024 General Election.

"In practice, the policy turned out to be misused, and then the forests were cut down, and the food estate was not well built. It was part of a crime against the environment," said Hasto in Bogor, Tuesday, August 15.

Responding to the criticism, Gerindra Party Chairman Prabowo Subianto who is also a presidential candidate (candidate) Prabowo Subianto answered casually.

"Oh, is that true?" Prabowo's response relaxed when answering was asked by reporters after attending an event at the Bidakara Hotel, South Jakarta, Tuesday, August 15.

That's information related to food estate. Visit VOI.ID to get other interesting information.