Agricom.id, JAKARTA – The agriculture sector got the increasing gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 reaching 0,02 percent. This sector is even categorized as the third biggest GDP contributor of Indonesia reaching 12,84 percent per Q1 2020.

Head of Public Relation and Information Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Kuntoro Boga Andri said that the increasing GDP would continue in the next year knowing that the harvest takes place in many regions. “We have to be optimist,” he said, Thursday (7/5//2020).

But, he continued, this month would be slow to increase because the massive harvest is not right on time – in general it is in March in every year (just like in 2019). The lateness from Q1 2019 year on year (yoy) would be increasing only 1,82 percent.

"In this year, the harvest took place in April 2020. We do hope that the harvest would be seen in Q2 and would be positive,” he said, as in the official written statement to Agricom.id.

He also mentioned that the sub sectors which slow down to increase were, the horticulture plantations, reaching 2,55 percent. The livestock slows down reaching 2,86 percent. The livestock slows down from Q1 2019 – reaching 7,96 percent.

For information, ministry of agriculture has developed the strategy of logistic system nationally to simplify the supply chain and the distribution intervention. Ministry of agriculture tries the best to synergize and collaborate with others to maintain the food availability and distribution, namely to the eleven main daily needs.

Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo in many occasions said that one thing that his side has done is to substitute the commodities from the surplus regions to the minus ones. At least, 28 provinces are in control.

For other information, central bureau of statistic (CBS) released that the food availability nationally until June 2020 would be surplus in rice reaching 6,4 million tons, corn reaching 1,01 million tons, onion reaching 330.384 tons, sugar reaching 1,07 million tons, and cooking oil reaching 5,7 million tons.

The stocks of rice in the end of March 2020 reached 3,45 million tons within details: in badan urusan logistik (Bulog) reaching 1,4 million tons, in the millings reaching 1,2 million tons, in the traders reaching 754.000 tons, and in lumbung pangan masyarakat (LPM) reaching 2.939 tons.

"The numbers are not the stocks in the other people, such as, households, hotel, restaurant, and café,” he said. (A2)