President Jokowi: Food Estate Program as a Collaboration to Anticipate Food Crisis

Thepresidentpost.id - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo emphasized that establishing food estate is an effort taken by the Government to anticipate food crisis.

It was stated after President Jokowi attended the Commemoration of Constitution Day and the 78th Anniversary of People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), at Nusantara Building IV, Parliamentary Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (08/18).

“We establish food estate in order to anticipate food crisis. Beware, all regions, all countries are now facing food crisis. Wheat problem occurs in all countries, those who consume wheat are having this problem, the price is also increasing drastically,” the President said.

President Jokowi further explained that food estate establishment is a collaboration of a number of ministries, starting from Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR), Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Defense. According to the President, the collaboration is an inseparable process.

“Some ministries are involved, such as Ministry of Agriculture that handles technical aspect. PUPR Ministry that handles land clearing, irrigation. Ministry of Defense that handles strategic reserves,” he elaborated.

Furthermore, the President also stressed that food estate establishment in a number of Indonesian regions is not an easy task. The success rate of harvesting the crops, he added, will gradually grow and become normal at the sixth or seventh crop.

“The first crop will likely to fail, the second crop will see 25 percent of the expected result, the third one, the seventh one, the sixth one, the seventh one will be most likely resulting normally. So, it is not as easy as we imagine,” President Jokowi said.

In addition, the President said that various problems could emerge in this program. Therefore, the Government will carry out evaluation and improvement to get the expected result.

“So, all things will be improved and evaluated, corrected and redone. If we do not venture out, give in to the first attempt’s failure, we will never know,” he remarked. (TGH/UN)