The Minister of Agriculture Assures This Year Has Not Experienced Hamlet Season

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman assures this year from November to January 2018 does not experience hamlet season or food shortage season.

Minister Amran explained to prevent the famine season in Indonesia; farmers have to increase the planting area to 1 million hectares. If it only reached 500 thousand hectares, famine season is certainly going to happen.

"After our evaluation, an average of one million crops, from the previous 500 thousand hectares, so we believe the next three months are safe, no famine," said Amran at the Ministry of Agriculture office on Friday (15/9 / 2017).

He asserted that the Ministry of Agriculture has evaluated that the planting area, especially during the critical planting period of July-August-September, has reached 1 million hectares so it is believed that food stocks are safe and there is no famine.

The Minister of Agriculture is optimistic that Indonesia can pass through the end of the year without a famine and repeat like 2016 where there is no famine.

Amran urged all agricultural sectors to be critical-oriented to plant food crops remaining only for the next two weeks until the end of September as a strategy to deal with famine.

In addition, the Minister of Agriculture is also optimistic that drought in some parts of West Java can be overcome by the functioning of Jatigede Reservoir.

He believes the preparation to deal with drought for three years can be reduced through irrigation, provision of reservoirs and reservoir normalization.

"The drastic decline is because many of the pumps we send are tens of thousands, and then our embungs build shallow wells and deep wells, we are sure that the impact of drought will decrease," he said.

Based on reports of Food and Horticultural Crop Protection Agency (BPTPH) from January to August 2017, the drought of 2017 affected by 56,334 ha and Puso 18,516 ha. (Ant)