Agricom.id, SOUTH BANGKA – Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) came to Village of Batu Betumpang, Sub district of Pulau Besar, District of South Bangka, Tuesday (25/8). He and Governor of Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Erzaldi Rosman cultivated and planted 7.100 hectares of swamp which is the paddy field optimization program.

This is the way of ministry of agriculture to increase the production to fulfill the food needs for 267 million men besides giving the infrastructure production, pre and post-harvest tools, encouraging the farmers to get the kredit usaha rakyat (KUR) facility, and developing the corporate and cluster – base agriculture.

“Every country is almost in crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic makes the economic contraction. The big countries are in minus below zero,” SYL said, as in the official written statement to Agricom.id.

He thought that the agriculture was the highest sector that gave economic progress in the second quarter of 2020.

Quoting from central bureau of statistic, he continued, the agriculture gross domestic product increased 16,24% in the second quarter of 2020 (q to q) and in year on year (yoy), it positively contributed for about 2,19%. This was supported by food plantation sub sector which contributed 9,23 percent.

"The facts showed that the agriculture is the promising sector, giving the solution. Every one of us needs food within the condition, we have to be sweat, serious, and focus,” he emphasized.

District of South Bangka itself in 2020 got the allocation for about 1.000 hectares in Swamp Optimization program.

The planting target in 2020 would be 11,69 million hectares nationally. This would be potentially producing 31,65 million tons of rice and the paddy planting in the dry season to September 2020 would be 5,6 million hectares.

By the program, Governor Erzaldi Rosman did hope that Bangka Belitung could be one region that supports the rice production nationally.

“This is August. The spirit of our independence day should give more meaning, not only the commemoration day but also should go forward as the farmers and be independent,” he said.

Besides improving the infrastructure in the tertiary path in the swamp areas, the technology helps, agricultural tools, the right seeds, and processing the areas based on the condition, it is hoped to increase the planting index in the swamp and make the food production better nationally. (A2)