Donggala, Central Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin handed over 122 agricultural equipment to farmers in an effort to help them manage agricultural land in Dampelas Sub-district, Donggala District, Central Sulawesi.

"We hope this assistance can help farmers in their daily work," Amin remarked at the inauguration of the Nusantara Food Area in Donggala District, Central Sulawesi, on Wednesday.

The vice president stated that the government had launched a national food security program to support the food chain supply for the entire community.

Amin remarked that the central government and regional governments are responsible for sustainable food availability, so efforts to maintain food security should be made.

On that occasion, the vice president handed over agricultural equipment to five farmer representatives, including the Tunas Muda III Farmers Group from Sioyong Village, Sumber Tani II Farmers Group from Sabang Village, and Sumber Mulyo Farmers Group from Malonas Village in Dampelas.

The Aliran Rezeki Farmers Group from Siboang Village and Tani Tinalu I Farmers Group from Balintumas Village also received agricultural equipment from the vice president.

He noted that the agricultural sector in Central Sulawesi Province was able to recover after the earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction disaster in 2018 due to support from the regional government and the central government.

"The Central Sulawesi food security and vulnerability index achieved a score of 5, or the resistant category," he remarked.

Apart from agricultural equipment, the vice president also handed over 30 tons of corn seeds and 2.6 tons of organic fertilizer to maintain food security in the region.

He also symbolically handed over 100 land certificates from the National Agency for Land Affairs (BPN) to five representatives of the community.

"Land certificates are given from the BPN to the community as a form of assuring security regarding land ownership," Amin explained.

Moreover, the vice president urged the regional government to overcome the rice production problem wherein the decline in harvested area caused rice productivity to fall.

"Please pay attention to the rice production sector. A decrease in harvested area had caused a decrease in rice productivity. This must be solved immediately," he emphasized.

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Translator: Nur Amalia A, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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