"The agriculture minister and his team have, so far, trained as many as 800 young farmers in West Papua, and they are targeting two thousand young farmers to be trained in order to improve their quality," President Jokowi stated during his official visit to Sorong, West Papua, on Monday.
President Jokowi, along with House of Representatives (DPR RI) Speaker Puan Maharani, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, and other officials attended a corn planting event during his official visit to Klamesen Sub-district, Sorong, West Papua.
The president remarked that those young farmers are being trained on the use agricultural tools to boost agricultural productivity in West Papua.
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The head of state noted that young farmers are also trained on ways to change the cropping system from once a year to twice or even thrice a year.
President Jokowi is optimistic that young farmers, trained by the Agriculture Ministry, could become the agriculture driving force in West Papua to achieve food self-sufficiency in the province.
The government will provide access to business capital as well as improve irrigation and supporting infrastructure to support West Papua's agriculture going forward.
On the occasion, Jokowi also noted that West Papua Province had the potential to function as the primary producer of farming commodities for the eastern Indonesia region.
"West Papua's agricultural land is vast, and the province has the potential to become the main producer of farming commodities for east Indonesia," he stated.
Related news: DPD RI lauds Agriculture Ministry's development measures in Papua
Translator: Ernest Broning, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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