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'It's like the Pentagon': New ministry's control center to improve agriculture data collection
The Agriculture War Room will monitor and generate information on paddy fields, the fertilizer supply and harvest areas using advanced technologies like satellites, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.
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The Agriculture Ministry's Agriculture War Room is pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (Courtesy of the Agriculture Ministry/-)
T
he Agriculture Ministry rolled out on Tuesday a new control center dubbed the Agriculture War Room (AWR) to better track data and survey crop productivity.
The AWR monitoring system will generate information on paddy fields, the fertilizer supply and harvest areas using advanced technologies like satellites, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence.
"With this instrument, we want agriculture to be more advanced, independent and modern to attain satisfying results," Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said during the system’s launch.
"So this room will be like the Pentagon in the United States. We wage ‘the war’ from here," added Syahrul, referring to the US Department of Defense headquarters building.
The AWR will help provide more accurate data as the ministry has long dealt with data that conflicts with data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and agricultural associations. The differences oftentimes trigger debates about whether or not Indonesia needs to import certain agriculture products.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil and House of Representatives Commission IV chairman Hasan Aminuddin, among other officials, also attended the launch.
"If this is managed well, we won't have to make a fuss over rice imports or any other imports," Luhut said.
