President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called on relevant authorities to improve the mapping of horticulture commodities and production in regions, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo stated.
“Regions with (horticulture production) surplus and regions with (production) shortage must be mapped properly,” the minister noted during a press conference after attending a closed-door meeting presided over by Jokowi at the Presidential Palace complex here, Monday.
The minister drew attention to two approaches to improve mapping, with the first being through intensification of trade communication between regions and pro-active roles from regional leaders, while the second approach is applied through the central government’s direct intervention.
Limpo affirmed that improved commodity mapping, apart from facilitating the monitoring of productivity levels, could also help control prices.
The minister then called for making continued improvements to the logistic and transportation systems in a bid to achieve price stability under the government’s control.
The president instructed to plant more horticulture commodities while expecting state-owned enterprises to provide logistics and ensure production flow for farmers, purchase the commodity from the farmer, and store the product properly before its distribution, he remarked.
“State companies are instructed to purchase all existing products to develop the product stock and distribute the product gradually when a shortage is detected or during peak seasons. We are optimistic that this would be a good strategy,” Limpo remarked.
Jokowi also instructed regions to utilize the contingency fund in the respective regional budgets to cover food transportation spending in order to maintain price stability and reduce the inflation level, the minister noted.
“District heads, mayors, and governors must partake in controlling (the commodity) prices because our production is adequate. Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry and the National Food Agency, which regulates the regional balance, would cooperate with regional authorities to intervene in regions with production shortage and map (the commodity production) properly,” Limpo expounded.
Source: Antara News