"Today, the Mayor of Semarang and I carried out (an activity to ensure) food availability and security in facing El Nino," he said in Tambangan village, Semarang on Thursday.
During the activity, he helped harvest organic rice produced by the Ayem Tenang Farmer Group. The rice was said to have been grown using fertilizers such as livestock manure and the biosaka elicitor liquid.
"I am amazed because Semarang has a large expanse of rice fields, which is almost 1,700 hectares. It turns out that there is a lot of water here, the (waters of) Bengawan Solo River and the Brantas River have not receded," he noted.
According to him, Semarang is a strategic area that has vast and fertile rice fields and is one of the food-supplying regions of Central Java.
"Therefore, I hope that Central Java can be resilient and anticipate the obstacles in production," he said.
Related news: Rice stock secure in facing El Niño peak: Agriculture Minister
The President has directed that food security be heightened amid the El Nino season, he added.
During the activity on Thursday, at least 15 hectares of rice fields were harvested and the Inpari 43 rice variety, which has a productivity of 6.2 tons per hectare, was planted on 5 hectares of land.
The harvesting process was followed by training in fertilizing plants using organic fertilizers and biosaka.
Semarang Mayor Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu expressed her gratitude for the minister's support for increasing food production in the region.
According to her, Semarang currently has a preserved land area of two thousand hectares and productive land of 30 thousand hectares.
"And we are proud that we have 115 farmers groups and 110 livestock farmer groups," she added.
Related news: BULOG has 750 thousand tons of rice to handle El Niño's impacts
Translator: Zuhdiar L, Kenzu
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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