Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA) – Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo underscored the need for special innovative breakthroughs or ideas to face the global food crises and climate change.”There must be ideas or breakthroughs, such as for each district to become a food barn by planting in one thousand hectares of plots in each district,” the minister stated in Padang, West Sumatra, on Saturday. Limpo delivered the statement at the opening of National Agriculture Week XVI. The minister remarked that the food crises is forecast to impact agricultural productivity by 30 percent. Limpo also highlighted the need to use fertilizers efficiently by opting for more organic varieties and reducing the use of chemical ones. He drew attention to the ministry’s initiative to ink collaboration with the Outstanding Farmers and Fishermen Association (KTNA) as part of the efforts to address the issues. He highlighted the need for the two entities to consistently adopt the same point of view in pursuing national agricultural programs. “We have to be grateful for farmers, as agriculture is the economy’s cushion during pandemic,” Minister Limpo remarked. The collaboration between the ministry and KTNA is expected to result in synergy in pursuing the anticipatory programs, head of agricultural human resources development and training at the ministry Dedi Nursyamsi affirmed. “This collective commitment will strengthen the bond of agricultural entities in anticipating climate change and global food crisis,” he noted. The ministry has prepared several measures to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change and global food crisis, so as to enable farmers to still be productive with no significant issues, Nursyamsi stressed. Head of KTNA Yadi Sofyan Noor noted that some higher-ups in the ministry will pursue the collaborative efforts with the association in order to anticipate the issues. “This measure is expected to become a collective effort in developing national agriculture,” he concluded.

Source: Antara News Agency