"We have asked them to preserve their productive rice fields and even widen their areas," he said during a visit to Batanghari district in the Sumatran province of Jambi here on Monday.
He said the effort was needed so that farmers would keep planting rice or other food crops and would not shift to rubber or oil palms.
The minister admitted that some farmers had already converted their rice fields into plantations which are economically more beneficial. This conversion could become a threat to food supply in the country, he said.
The minister however believed that the number of farmers that had converted their land into plantations was small. "I have seen some of them still plant rice between oil palms," he said.
Ahead, he said what the government would do was protecting food crops farms. The minister said staple food crops must remain prioritized.
He said to replace the converted land the government would also boost creation of productive rice fields.
The minister reminded the law states that conversion of rice fields could only be done under compelling conditions.
Several non-governmental organizations in Jambi also have been worried about land conversion in the region. They think Jambi is among the food crisis-prone regions.
"The food crisis that has been predicted by the world has also threatened Jambi," head of public education and policy lobbying of Setara Foundation, Nur Baya, said.
He said the threat could be seen from increasing land conversion in the region.
He said they are worried that unless limitations are imposed or correct steps are taken the province will certainly be affected by food crisis in the next few years.
According to Setara`s records in 2000 rice farms in Jambi reached 171,395 hectares but in 2009 they had shrunk to 155,802 hectares or dropped by 3.83 percent.
Agricultural land conversion into oil palm plantations has happened across the province`s districts reaching 75,560 hectares or 48.5 percent. "This is what has made us worried," he said.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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