As the first attempt to reach such a goal, he added, that the Agriculture ministry is devoting their attention to attain rice self-sufficiency in Kalimantan. The ministry, he added, has provided funds with various initiatives to East and South Kalimantan to realize the goal.
“If possible, Kalimatan is set to achieve rice self-sufficiency next year. However, the latest deadline is by 2018,” he said.
At the same time, Amran said that corn imports have dropped by 60 percent. In addition to a significant decrease of corn imports, other commodities have shown positive developments.
Among others, chilli and onion imports are no longer needed, and Indonesia can even export the onions. The minister went on to say that such results are due to changes in policy and revolutions in several sectors.
He further stated that the main consideration for imports is the actual level of needs, not the interest of a particular group of people to gain profit that eventually leads to corruption, collusion, and nepotism. (*)