Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo has expressed support for West Sulawesi Province’s plan to develop two thousand hectares of rice field to increase rice production.

“The Agriculture Ministry will support West Sulawesi Province in expanding its rice field and become self reliant in food production,” he said while attending a rice harvest in Kalukku Sub-district, Mamuju District, West Sulawesi, on Saturday.

The central government will assist West Sulawesi in developing rice plant on two thousand hectares of land to increase the national rice production, he said.

“In the first phase, we will help the development (of rice plant) on up to one thousand hectares and then on another one thousand hectares,” he said.

The government hoped the expansion of rice field will increasingly make local farmers prosperous, he said.

West Sulawesi is an agrarian area which is suitable to develop rice so that the local government should be committed to promoting the agricultural sector, he said.

Meanwhile, West Sulawesi Acting Governor Akmal Malik urged district governments in the province to map farm land for the development of rice plant.

He said each district in West Sulawesi should focus on the development of the agricultural sector particularly rice production to face the threat of food crisis.

“West Sulawesi has a great chance to become an agrarian area thanks to its vast area of farm land. We should benefit from it to push the regional economic development,” he said.

Source: Antara News