Food Estate Developed in the New Capital to Support National Food Security

TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian government confirms that developing food estate industry is one of the priorities in Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara before relocation process begins in 2024.

The Ministry of Agriculture said it has started growing food estate program in North Penajam Paser regency in East Kalimantan which will be the location of new capital Nusantara, and through the program, the area is targeted to be one of national food barns.

Head of agriculture office at the regency Mulyono said education and dissemination of information have started to prepare locals in three villages with the sufficient information related to the wide-scale program.

The three villages are designated to be the location of the program, and they are Gunung Mulia, Gunung Intan, and Sebakung Jaya villages.

“The potential of the first food estate development has been mapped out based on the size of area, and three villages have been prepared,” Mulyono said on Friday, March 25, as reported by Antara.

According to him, during the initial phase, the program will be developed in a 1,500 hectares of land targeted for rice, but the area is expected to later expand.

For North Penajam Paser regency, food estate program first kicked off this year and is involving various stakeholders. The budget is from the central, provincial, and regencial governments as well as private sectors, as regulated by cooperation agreement.