Agricom.id, SOUTH LAMPUNG - Ministry of agriculture does appreciate District of South Lampung to realize the regional regulation about the sustainable agriculture areas and food or Lahan Pertanian dan Pangan Berkelanjutan (LP2B).

"We keep reminding that it is important to maintain the agriculture areas to be not land use change for others,” Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) told.

He suggested that every side should be serious to maintain the areas. besides the main factor to provide the food, he believed, this sector could be the main motor of economy in Indonesia. “If it is well managed and cultivated, the agriculture could be the solution to the employment and conquer the poverty,” he said, as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

General Director of Agriculture Infrastructure, Ministry of Agriculture, Sarwo Edhy said that the area availability for the agriculture business is the number one condition to realize the food independence, security, and sovereignty nationally.

“We do appreciate for the commitment to maintain sustainable the food agriculture areas to everyone namely district of South Lampung for doing the best to publish LP2B," he said.

He also told that the protection to LP2B would not be the responsible of the agriculture sector but also us, both the central, regional governments, and every stakeholder.

About the regulation of food availability guarantee, the Laws No. 41 / 2009 was published, and so the derivatives were. The policy regulated that kawasan pertanian pangan berkelanjutan (KP2B), LP2B, and lahan cadangan pertanian pangan berkelanjutan (LCP2B) should be in the regional regulation of national spatial, regional spatial of province, district/city.

South Lampung Selatan has proposed the fund to arrange the regional regulation of LP2B since 2016 and 2017 but it was not realized yet still.

In 2018 the fund was proposed again and directly in cooperation with Universitas Lampung to arrange in self-management.

The fund to arrange it in our district would be Rp 145 million. It consists of academic documents and its draft,”

“Based on what ministry of agriculture told, the regional regulation of LP2B should have geospatial maps. In its work arrangement or kerangka acuan kerja (KAK), the regulation should have geospatial maps,” Head of Food, Horticulture, and Plantation Agency, South Lampung, Bibit Purwanto said.

The geospatial maps of LP2B in South Lampung consist of 17 sub districts. Its source derives from geospatial information agency (BIG) and paddy field maps from ministry of agriculture.

“The total paddy fields in our district which would be in the geospatial LP2B reach 36.052 hectares of 45.575 hectares. The number data and from CBS after the draft is ready would be coordinated to the regional legislators and the legal officers to be inaugurated as the official regulation,” he said.

In 2019 national land agency (NLA) did verification of the width of LP2B in District of South Lampung. In the verification, NLA involved the field agriculture counselors.

“The verification results from NLA were the width of LP2B in our district reached 36.482 hectares. In the end we would use the numbers to socialize the regulation of LP2B," he said.

The good news is that the file .shp of LP2B map is in the investment and license process.

“For those who want to do area investment in South Lampung, we have to check the coordinate – would it be in the LP2B or not. If the investor candidate’s location is in the LP2B, the license would not be processed but if his is not, the license continues,” Purwanto said. (A2)