Jakarta (ANTARA) – Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman plans to develop 120,000 hectares of garlic plantations in cooperation with China as part of efforts to achieve national garlic self-sufficiency.
“Based on our meeting with the Chinese Minister of Agriculture, we will work together to strengthen food security, as the world is experiencing a food crisis,” Sulaiman said at a press conference on Sunday (November 8).
The cooperation was discussed during a meeting with Chinese Agriculture Minister Zhang Zhu as part of efforts to strengthen food security, including collaboration on garlic development, from seed supply to cultivation in Indonesia.
Sulaiman said China would initially supply garlic seeds under the cooperation, while the Indonesian government would prepare further technical measures to support sustainable cultivation and gradually increase domestic production.
The government plans to develop garlic plantations in Sembalun, West Nusa Tenggara, and Temanggung, Central Java, as well as several areas in Sumatra considered to have suitable agroclimatic conditions for boosting national production.
The total development area is expected to reach 120,000 hectares as part of a strategy to strengthen garlic self-sufficiency and reduce import dependence by sustainably expanding domestic production capacity, the minister added.
Previously, the two ministers had agreed to expand agricultural cooperation in production, technology transfer, investment, and the development of strategic commodities to strengthen the agricultural capacity of both countries.
The agreement was reached during their bilateral meeting in Beijing on November 2.
President Prabowo Subianto has also set a target for Indonesia to achieve garlic self-sufficiency within the next three years, following the government’s success in achieving self-sufficiency in eight food commodities over the past year.
Of the country’s 11 strategic food commodities, eight have achieved self-sufficiency namely rice, corn, sugar, broiler chickens, broiler eggs, shallots, large red chilies, and bird’s eye chilies.
The Ministry of Agriculture is currently pursuing self-sufficiency in the remaining three of the 11 strategic food commodities, soybeans, beef, and garlic.
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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