Merauke – Farmers in Telaga Sari Village, Merauke appreciated the 40,000 hectares of land assistance provided by Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman during his working visit to Telaga Sari Village, Kurik District, Merauke.
Sutarman, one of the farmers from Central Java who works in Telaga Sari Village, Merauke hopes that this assistance can increase food production and improve the economy of farmers.
“Hopefully, with the visit of the Minister of Agriculture, farmers can increase production. We farmers can be successful, so far we have been expecting from ourselves. Maybe this assistance from the government can be covered in our community,” said Sutarman.
Sutarman also expressed his gratitude to Indonesian President Joko Widodo for the Food Estate program. “We as Kapoktan Telaga Kencana would like to thank the Minister of Agriculture, farmers in Telaga Sari can achieve this activity so that it can be successful. I thank Mr. Jokowi with this activity our farmers can be helped and inspired for future activities,” said Sutarman.
In line with Sutarman, Papuan farmer Rudias Bidalegu who is also active in BSIP (Agricultural Instrument Standardization Agency) Papua, he also said that with the availability of 40,000 hectares of land, a number of varieties and plants can be planted which produce economic improvement outputs, especially for indigenous Papuans who also get assistance through food technology.
“For Papuans, maybe we can take a better approach both at the technology level, as well as special assistance, especially for indigenous Papuans. Thank you for the government’s support, especially in the program to improve the economy by opening up 40,000 hectares of land. It is very, very supportive at the agricultural level,” said Rudias.
As is known, Amran revealed that 40,000 hectares of land had been successfully optimized from a target of 63,000 hectares in Merauke with the aim of anticipating a food crisis and spurring food self-sufficiency.
