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Govt to build 3.97 million ha water storage to optimize rainfed land productivity
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Great harvest – Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman (second from right) with Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita (right) and Nasdem Party chairman Surya Paloh (second from left) visiting an agriculture exhibition in Jakarta on Sept.22. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
T
he government is set to build small artificial lakes, amounting to 3.97 million hectares of area across Indonesia, in its efforts to optimize the productivity of rainfed agricultural land in the country.
Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said the artificial water storage would be built with Rp 22 trillion (US$1.69 billion) funds allocated from next year's state budget. The construction of the water storage would start next year and is expected to be completed within the next two years.
“The rainfed agriculture land, which usually can be cultivated only once a year, could hopefully be in production twice a year,” Amran told reporters after a meeting with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The minister further said the government would build at least 1 million ha of water storage in rainfed land, which has no irrigation, across Java. The government would build more artificial water reservoirs on Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.
“They will spread across the country, including Papua,” Amran said.
He further said the government took such a measure as part of its effort to improve water irrigation to optimize the country’s agriculture production as instructed by President Jokowi. (ebf)
