Tanjung Selor, North Kalimanta (ANTARA) – Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo on Saturday visited North Kalimantan Province and pledged to support the integrated upstream and downstream agricultural sector development.

“We will integrate both upstream and downstream sectors of North Kalimantan Province’s agriculture potential such as food, horticulture, plantations and large livestock,” he said.

The province is one of the ministry official’s visit routes in Kalimantan Island as he will come to West Kalimantan Province the following day.

The minister promised to disburse hundreds of billions in funds to develop an integrated agricultural sector area.

Furthermore, he has encouraged the region to be the model for the integrated development.

“In addition to the assistance we have given, I also instruct each director-general to help improve the farming and livestock sectors in the province massively,” he continued.

On this occasion, Limpo handed over Rp16.9 billion program assistance to the North Kalimantan Provincial Government.

The assistance was intended for food crops, horticulture, plantations, livestock and animal health, agricultural facilities and infrastructure, and food security sectors.

He also visited a Boer goat farming managed by Bulungan Mandiri Farm in Apung Village, Bulungan District, Saturday morning. He harvested Indigofera, a plant used as animal feed, and saw Cempe, a two-month-old young goat.

He has hoped that the farming area will be expanded to 200 hectares from the current four hectares to increase the involvement of the local government.

Moreover, the regional government has also been asked to prepare a 20-hectare pilot area because the region has a large area that can be optimized for the agriculture sector.

Furthermore, in the yard of the North Kalimantan Provincial Joint Office, Limpo symbolically dispatched 28 tons of pepper worth Rp1.26 billion to Vietnam.

Source: Antara news