Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA – Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman spurred the West Java (West Java) Provincial government to increase the productivity of rice farming in the area because it has the potential for a planting area of 343,000 hectares.

“We are giving the governor and all regents throughout West Java the widest possible opportunity, for the past two months how many pumps are needed for upland, because there is a potential of 343,000 hectares,” said Minister Amran on the sidelines of inspecting the rice fields in Sumurbarang Village, Cibogo District, Subang, West Java, quoted from Antara, Thursday, April 4.

In an official statement in Jakarta, the Minister of Agriculture said that the Ministry of Agriculture is ready to provide pump assistance to encourage agriculture throughout West Java. Assistance will be provided through the local government for the availability of food in the area as well as supplying national food.

“If we can work on this well, we can increase our production by 2.5 million tons and the value is Rp. 25 trillion and it can increase our income here,” said Amran.

During the review, the Minister of Agriculture also checked the use of pumping in the Subang Regency rice fields to increase agricultural productivity in the area.

He emphasized that pumping can certainly help farmers to continue to produce and increase their planting index even in the midst of the threat of the El Nino phenomenon.

Amran explained that climate challenges have the potential to make it difficult for farmers to access water and are often obstacles for farmers to produce, so that the quick solution is done, namely by pumping.

According to him, farmers must be given full support for production, because the life and death of a nation depends on the availability of food.

Water, fertilizer, and mechanization technology, he said, are important aspects that must be ensured for availability because they will directly support farmers’ production activities in the field.

“This is a matter of people’s stomach, the death of one nation depends on the food, it was also Bung Karno’s speech. Our first President in 1953, when laying the first stone at the Faculty of Agriculture, which is now IPB, so what we need to make sure that food is maintained is water, fertilizer, mechanical technology or agricultural machine tools,” explained Amran.

Entering the next planting season, Minister Amran admitted that he was intensively distributing pumps to production centers, especially in Javanese areas.

Amran believes the pumping program will not only be effective in increasing agricultural products, but also proven to provide economic benefits for farmers. The use of pumping allows farmers to optimize water resource management appropriately and efficiently.

Acting Governor of West Java Bey Machmudin appreciated the pumping program being intensified by Minister of Agriculture Amran, which is believed to have a significant impact on increasing agricultural production, especially rice production in his area.

“Of course we welcome the offer of the Minister of Agriculture, and Mr. Kadis Agricultural will immediately work today to coordinate with all regencies and cities, and it was said that not only for rain fields, but to increase overall production. So we believe this year’s target (West Java rice production) will be achieved, even more,” said Bey.

Meanwhile, Acting Regent Subang Imran said that based on data from the local Agriculture Service, the area has a land area of 84,000 hectares, but most of them have irrigation constraints so that they can only grow once a year.

Therefore, Imran said that through pumping, it is hoped that it can optimize planting in its area to two or even three times a year.

“With this, we optimize it so that maybe farmers not only grow once a year, but maybe twice as many as three times,” said Imran.

Published Date: April 4, 2024