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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo reiterated on Friday his target for achieving rice self-sufficiency for the country in the next three years and said that his government would give more incentives to farmers to meet the objective.

Jokowi said that the assistance would be in the form of agricultural tools, including some that he distributed to farmers in Subang, West Java on Friday.

Jokowi visited several areas in Subang on Friday, including the Rice Research Center in Sukamandi, Subang, where he handed over 1,099 hand tractors for farmers groups from 19 regencies in West Java.

In total, 7,800 units were given to farmers in 14 provinces. The government will also provide another 65,931 hand tractors next year for farmers across the country.

The Agriculture Ministry will also give free seeds for 5 million hectares of farm lands across the country, or around 40 percent of the total farm lands nationwide, as well as free fertilizer.

The ministry also plans to revitalize irrigation infrastructure next year, a program it claims could irrigate 1 million hectares of land across the country.

Jokowi has recently instructed his ministers to focus on food and agriculture, as well as the infrastructure developments, in drafting and implementing the revision of the 2015 state budget (RAPBN-P).

The President has also unveiled the government'€™s ambitious medium-term economic agenda, which includes boosting the production of food, particularly rice, to achieve food sovereignty within three years during last week'€™s National Development Planning Conference (Musrenbangnas) during which governors, regents and mayors from across the country were present

'€œTractors, fertilizers, seeds [...] I give you all of those. But, I will make sure that you keep your words. Within the next three years, [we] must be self-sufficient; this is non-negotiable,'€ Jokowi told an assembly of farmers and local government leaders.

In his five years of presidency, Jokowi also expects to build 49 new dams in several areas in the country.

Currently, 52 percent of the country'€™s irrigation system are in disrepair.

Farmers also have to deal with problems like the chaotic distribution of fertilizer and seeds as well as the lack of modern agricultural tools, all of which had hampered the way for the world'€™s fourth most populous nation to achieve food self-sufficiency.

Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman expects that the government'€™s assistance could serve as an incentive for local heads to meet the self-sufficiency target.

'€œBecause of the assistance, governors have shown their support for the government'€™s self-sufficiency plan. Already, 10 governors pledged to produce an additional 11 million tons of rice in total,'€ Amran said. '€œIf we are able to meet such target, we will reach rice self-sufficiency very soon.'€

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician, pledged during the event that his province would be able to produce an additional 2 million tons of rice next year.

East Java, meanwhile, was predicted to produce an extra 2 million tons of rice, while South Sulawesi and Central Java would add 1 million tons and 1.5 million tons respectively.

Amran said the country was expected to produce 73 million tons of rice next year, or an increase of 3 million tons from this year'€™s production.

The minister has earlier said that the focus on self-sufficiency in the short-term would be on four key food commodities '€” rice, corn, soybeans and sugar '€” all of which are currently being imported.

For the food sovereignty program, the Agriculture Ministry would propose that the government earmark an extra Rp 15 trillion in the 2015 revised state budget, while the Public Works Ministry, which oversees dams and water reservoirs, would propose a Rp 12 trillion allocation to support food sovereignty programs.