"The first target is how to restore the glory of garlic," the minister remarked when inspecting the simultaneous corn planting activity in Pringsewu District, Lampung Province, on Tuesday.
Amran said that the government was making every effort to achieve garlic self-sufficiency until 2019.
He said the Ministry of Agriculture hopes that Indonesia can have garlic self sufficiency, and will not need to import it through the development of garlic centers.
From a calculation of the Ministry of Agriculture, the minister said that to achieve garlic self-sufficiency, it requires an area of 73,000 hectares, with a production target of 600,000 tons.
The second target is that the minister of agriculture will also try to restore the glory of spices, one of which is by distributing spice seedlings such as pepper and nutmeg at each working visit.
And the third target is that the Agriculture Ministry will also utilize tidal swamp land for productive agriculture.
The Ministry of Agriculture will also optimize the land with cooperation between the central government, the TNI, local government and the community. The land which was previously a swamp has now been planted, ready for planting, and continues to be expanded.
"It is already underway in South Sumatra and South Kalimantan," the minister said.
Amran added that the foundation for the agricultural sector was the fourth focus at the end of his position. The utilization of rainwater harvesting system is a component that must be implemented by farmers.
By utilizing rainwater, farmers should no longer experience drought during the dry season so that it has the potential to cause crop failure.
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture together with the Ministry of Villages and the Development of Disadvantaged Regions will also continue to expand ponds including deep and shallow wells throughout Indonesia.
Editing by Othniel Tamindael
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
