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New senior minister eyes Papua to achieve food self-sufficiency
The newly appointed coordinating food minister is looking to the easternmost region of Papua to shore up the country’s scarcity of arable land and to bump up production to achieve food self-sufficiency.
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A farmer rides a motorcycle on Dec. 30, 2023 past rice fields in Kerobokan district, Bali.
(AFP/David Gannon)
Z
ulkifli Hasan, who was installed on Monday to the new position of coordinating food minister, has announced a five-year plan to develop 2 million hectares of paddy fields in the Papuan region to achieve food self-sufficiency, a key policy goal of President Prabowo Subianto.
Zulkifli said the government was working “seriously” in preparing Papua to play a critical role in the national food program, especially as land subsidence continues to spread across northern Java.
Land subsidence is of particular concern for food production centers in vast areas of Java, particularly in coastal regions that are also at risk of rising sea levels.
“Where is the future of Indonesia’s agriculture? In Papua. Now, we are seriously [preparing it],” he said in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by Bisnis.com.
Zulkifli, who previously served as trade minister from his appointment in December 2020 until Oct. 2, 2024, said he also aimed to develop 600,000-1 million ha of sugarcane plantations in the next five years.
Read also: Govt eyes 500,000 hectares for new rice fields to feed Nusantara
Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said in a statement on Dec. 12, 2023 that the government planned to prepare 1 million ha of agricultural land in Papua to meet the food industry’s demand for sugar, noting that sugarcane residue could also be used in bioethanol production.
