Dahlan said the target to turn 2.6 million hectares of land into agricultural fields would be carried out in all provinces in Indonesia, particularly provinces which were open to the program.
Tasikmalaysa, W Java (ANTARA News) - State-owned Enterprise (SOE) Minister Dahlan Iskan has set a target to cultivate 2.6 million hectares of agricultural land to support his Cooperatives-based Food Production Movement Program (GP3K) aimed at increasing national food production.

"We continue to expand it until it reaches 2.6 million hectares this year," the minister said when attending a rice grand harvest under the GPEK program in Cihonje hamlet, Sukakarsa Village, Sukarame Subditrict, Tasikmalaya District, on Sunday.

Dahlan said the target to turn 2.6 million hectares of land into agricultural fields would be carried out in all provinces in Indonesia, particularly provinces which were open to the program.

The program is organized by one of the country`s SOE firms, namely fertilizer company PT Pupuk Kujang.

Dahlan said the program should not only be carried out by a fertilizer company but also by other state-owned firms so that the country`s food problem could be solved all together.

"In an effort to solve the food problem, we are mobilizing a movement, not only by state fertilizer company but also by other state-owned firms," he said.

He said that through the GP3K program, PT Pupuk Kujang was able to provide fertilizer facility to farmers with payment carried out later when the crops were harvested.

The minister hope that farmers who joined the GP3K program would be able to increase their productivity and improve the quality of their rice.

"Through this program, farmers can pay after harvest time. We call it as GP3K program. I hope that farmers would make use of this," he said.

The program is expected to support the national food resilience program which has the target of 10 million tons of rice surplus within the 2011 - 2015 period.

President Director of PT Pupuk Kujang Bambang Tjahyono who also attended the harvest occasion said his company has the responsibility to organize 140 thousand hectares of land under the GP3K program in West Java in 2013-2014.

Bambang hoped that his company`s program in Tasikmalaya would reach 7.53 tons of rice per hectare from the previous productivity of 6.3 tons per hectare.

"With the productivity increase, Tasikmalaya could produce 20,551 tons of rice for one harvest season," he said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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