"I hope that the assistance will benefit the community and help farmers boost their agricultural productivity," Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah remarked here Sunday.
The agricultural aid package comprises 45 electric plant sprayers, three hand tractors, 22 cultivators, 42 lawn machines, three three-wheeled motorbikes, 2,000 litres of organic fertilizer, and 500 kilograms of compound fertilizer.
The package was distributed to 15 farmer groups in Talang Benih Village, Curup Sub-district, Rejang Lebong District.
Governor Mersyah affirmed that the distributed equipment and machines do not belong solely to the farmer group leaders but also to all members of each group. He also asked the farmers to take good care of the assistance to maintain its durability.
"Please, maintain these equipment and machines, and I would also like to stress that all members of farmer groups have the right to utilize them," he stated.
The governor then noted that the condition of agricultural activities in Curup Sub-district is still better compared to other regions in Bengkulu during the ongoing prolonged dry season.
He observed that currently, the soil in the province's coastal regions, such as Seluma, Manna, Kaur, North Bengkulu, and Mukomuko, has started cracking, thereby hindering the agricultural production.
"The irrigation system in Curup is quite reliable. Hence, the dry season does not disrupt crops. We all should be grateful for this," the governor said.
Apart from farmers in Rejang Lebong District, the provincial government also distributed similar assistance to farmers in Kaur District in early October.
In total, five farmer groups in Kaur District received tractors, while 14 farmer groups got plant pest sprayers.
Those agricultural aid packages are aimed to help the farmers in Rejang Lebong and Kaur boost their production of food crops, especially rice, since the two districts serve as Bengkulu's rice-producing regions.
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Translator: Boyke L, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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