Karawang, West Java (ANTARA) - Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo has expressed satisfaction over the rice production recorded in Ciptamarga village, Jayakerta sub-district, Karawang, West Java, during this year’s harvest period.

"Rice production at the beginning of this year ensures that production in Karawang is really good," Minister Limpo noted after the rice harvest in Karawang on Monday.

He informed that the harvest at the beginning of this year was one of the measures taken by the Agriculture Ministry and Karawang government to ensure that national rice production was met.

On a plantation area of around 2 thousand hectares, the village managed to produce 8 tons of rice per hectare, he noted.

"Of course, this ensures that if production in Karawang is good, then production in other areas will also be good. Because Karawang is a gauge to the success of Indonesia's rice production," the minister said.

According to him, the production target could reach 4 million tons and cover an area of 1.4 million hectares in the period from March to April 2023. This bodes well for national food resilience, he said.

He further said he expected farmers to plant rice and secondary crops three times a year. Moreover, efforts are on to improve the food logistics system.

Deputy head of Karawang, Aep Syaepuloh, said that the farmers have expressed their gratitude for the generous amount of agricultural aid provided to Karawang in 2022.

“Today (Monday), there is aid of 500 hectares of rice seeds, a power thresher machine," Syaepuloh added.

In January, the rice harvest area in Karawang spanned 18,103 hectares, with productivity reaching 8 tons per hectare. The price of grains was quite profitable for farmers at Rp6,000–Rp6,100 per kilogram.