Agricom.id, HALMAHERA – Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) did work visit in the area optimization in Village of Margo Mulyo, Sub district of Kao Barat, District of North Halmahera, Pulau Buru, Sunday (4/10/2020).

He directly saw the agricultural productivity process within about 8 tons per hectare in one harvest. He thought that the productivity could be more knowing that the nature is promising there.

“We could realize it by planting the better variety. The cultivation should be more advance, the fertilizer should in balance. We also should prepare the better post-harvest water pump to be more maximal,” he said, as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

He also thought that the visit to Halmahera was the order of President Joko Widodo to know what commodity to be developed and optimized to be the food security power, namely in eastern Indonesia.

“Pulau Buru is the option and we would optimize what is available here. Insya Allah, we would implement the approach like in the food estate (program),” he said.

For information, the government is developing the integrated agriculture in the food estate program in some regions. It is the program which consists of kinds of commodities, including the rice as the main needs for the citizens of Indonesia.

Not only that, food estate would develop some plantation, horticulture, food plantation, and livestock.

About the plans, SYL asked for his officers to give helps in person, such as, the fertilizers, the seeds, the tools, and other infrastructures.

“Let us change the civilization because there are lots of things to increase the agricultural commodities in Pulau Buru. I would keep monitoring and supporting every planting here,” he said.

District of Buru has the paddy fields reaching about 7,328 hectares. In 2019 the paddy harvest covered 12,457 hectares within the productivity 47,610 tons of milled dry grain or equal to 27,314 tons of rice. (A2)