"A factor that determines the success of increasing production is water availability, in addition to seeds and fertilizers," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman remarked in a Coordination Meeting on Irrigation here on Thursday.
Sulaiman noted that the government is seeking to strengthen irrigation for a total of 2.3 million hectares of land, comprising 851 thousand hectares of land in the land optimization program, 500 thousand hectares of land in the rice field development program, and one million hectares of existing land.
Under the collaboration between the three institutions, the Ministry of Agriculture plays the role of providing requisite items for production, such as fertilizers, seeds, and agricultural tools and machinery, as well as encouraging the participation of young farmers.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works ensures the availability of water by strengthening infrastructure, such as water gates, wells, piping, dams, and reservoirs.
The TNI plays a major role in implementing the program and overseeing it to ensure the acceleration of food self-sufficiency can be achieved.
The minister expressed optimism that through hard work and collaboration, Indonesia can achieve food security in accordance with President Prabowo Subianto's directive.
"We see that our hard work in 2024 has increased production. According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, there was an increase in August, September, and October. Thus, we believe that production can rise with the movements that we make," he remarked.
Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo stated that his ministry is ready to fully support the synergy with the Ministry of Agriculture and TNI in providing water for food production.
"The main function of water availability is food security. We are ready to support the agriculture sector so that food self-sufficiency can be achieved as soon as possible," he remarked.
On the same occasion, Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army (TNI AD) General Maruli Simanjuntak also expressed his readiness to oversee the strengthening of irrigation infrastructure.
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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