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Indonesia to be food self-sufficient in 2018, says minister
Newly installed Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said on Tuesday that Indonesia would again reach food self-sufficiency in the next three to four years, by 2018 the latest
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ewly installed Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said on Tuesday that Indonesia would again reach food self-sufficiency in the next three to four years, by 2018 the latest.
'To reach food self-sufficiency we'll need to prioritize irrigation, seeds, mechanization and market guarantees,' he said after a handover ceremony at the Agriculture Ministry as reported by Antara news agency.
Amran said market guarantees played an important role in ensuring the market could absorb crops during harvest time.
The ministry is prioritizing increasing the production of rice, corn, soybean and sugar cane because Indonesia still imports these products. Land expansion is another issue the ministry is prioritizing.
'Land is available, all we have to do is to have synergy with other directorates. This should be carried out in an integrated way and not individually,' said Amran.
Indonesia was recognized as a food self-sufficient country by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1988 with a five-year development program during the Soeharto era.
Entering the reform era, however, agriculture was no longer considered attractive and agricultural land was converted for other functions such as industry and housing. (tah/nvn)
