VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo visiting the food estate location in Central Sumba District, Tuesday (23/2/2021). ANTARA/HO -Presidential Press Bureau/pri.

The Indonesian government last year started developing a food estate project in Pulang Pisau district, Central Kalimantan province to ensure national food security and resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it is currently spread over 30 thousand hectares of land, the size of the food estate will be extended over the next two years.

Now, the food estate project has been expanded to several other regions such as North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), South Sumatra, Papua, and Riau.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on February 23, 2021 reviewed the implementation of a food estate project in Central Sumba district, NTT. Currently spread over five thousand hectares comprising three thousand hectares of rice and two thousand hectares of corn fields, the estate will be eventually expanded to 10 thousand hectares to comprise 5,600 hectares of rice and 4,400 hectares of corn fields.During his visit, Widodo said he is optimistic the food estate will encourage rice farmers in Central Sumba to harvest rice twice a year, and corn and soybean once a year.

"As per data I have received, 34 percent of the residents in Central Sumba live in poverty and farmers harvest rice only once a year. We want them to harvest rice twice a year and corn or soybean once a year," Widodo said.

To scale up the irrigation system for farming, the government has built a number of reservoirs and dams in NTT, an arid province that often bears the brunt of water shortages.Earlier, on February 11, 2021, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, visited a Herbal and Horticultural Science and Technology Park (TSTH2), which is currently being developed and will be part of a two thousand-ha food estate project in Pollung district, North Sumatra.

"Indonesia has 30 thousand herbal species, therefore the President is aiming for a world-class herbal research center (here), which we are currently developing together with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and five universities led by IT Del," the minister said.Supporting facilities for TSTH2 will also be built in the area and will include laboratories, collection gardens, hatcheries and research centers, silvopastures, natural tourism, artificial tourism, offices, and accommodation for researchers as well as guest houses.

"I hope we can plant good and superior seeds here, so that we can be proud to say these seeds are from Pollung. For this reason, it is hoped that the community and the government can cooperate with each other, and most importantly work with the heart," the minister remarked.

In Riau province, about 30 thousand hectares have been allocated for a food estate project for planting rice and corn, among other things."The Riau provincial government has filed an application with the Agriculture Minister and allotted 30 thousand hectares of land in the hope of being able to develop a new food estate," Riau Governor Syamsuar said on March 5, 2021.

The government came up with the idea of developing a three-year food estate project following a warning by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that the COVID-19 pandemic is posing a serious threat to food security and nutrition. It has also urged governments and other stakeholders to build more resilient food systems.

The President has asked three ministers — Defense Minister Prabowo Susanto, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, and State Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir — to implement the program, with the support of other ministers."The ministry is implementing sustainable food estate development and management to increase food security while supporting national economic recovery by providing jobs for people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," minister Hadimuljono said in a statement issued on February 28, 2021.

He cited a number of challenges to the development of food estates, including water management, community economy, the environment, institutions, and financing//ANT