Agricom.id, JAKARTA – Commission IV, Indonesian Legislators did appreciate the agricultural sectors led by Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) to maintain the food production during the Covid-19 pandemic. By his hard work, the gross domestic product (GDP) in agriculture positively increased and becomes the pillar of economy nationally.

“The agriculture is the only sector that positively increased the GDP in the second quarter of 2020 in the pandemic,” the member of Commission IV, Johan Rosihan said when meeting with Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo in the hall, Wednesday (26/8/2020).

He thought that the achievement is the evidence that the agriculture could be the strong pillar to recover the economy nationally. He also hoped that ministry of agriculture could get additional budget to continue developing the agriculture.

“As the reward of the increasing agricultural sectors, the budget should be more. It should not be minus. This is the evidence that the agriculture positively increased in the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said, as in the official written statement to Agricom.id.

He also mentioned that Minister SYL really cares about the policy, such as, the export policy and minimize the import. Johan thought that it is the good policy and should be well implemented because the import is the form of colonialism.

“I would stand together with the minister to minimize the imports. We should increase the production in our country when others prioritize their own needs,” he said.

Just like what he said, the other member of Commission IV, Charles Meikyansah did appreciate the works of ministry of agriculture during the pandemic. Corruption Eradication Commission (CEC) also did appreciate ministry of agriculture as the ministry which has accurate data when distributing the subsidized fertilizers and seeds by using the ID numbers.

“I do appreciate the achievement from CEC to ministry of agriculture. We could hope that the agriculture could get the positive progress in the third and fourth quarter of 2020 so that the economy would be better nationally,” he said.

The other member, Salim Fakhry is proud of Minister SYL who always goes to the regions in every week. He thought that SYL is the ideal figure because the agriculture needs extra power to do field check.

“If seen from his action, the food estate program should be led by him because Minister SYL masters the field works,” he said. (A2)