The Indonesian government plans to expand a national “food estate” program centered in Borneo, by establishing millions of hectares of new crop plantations. The program’s aim is to help secure domestic food supplies and decrease Indonesia’s reliance on food imports.
Some of the areas targeted by the program include the provinces of North and South Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara, and Papua. In Central Kalimantan, the program also identified 165,000 hectares of potential farmland. The cost of the project in Central Kalimantan, which will involve improving on existing infrastructure such as roads and irrigation channels, is estimated to be IDR 6.7 trillion or approximately USD 454 million.
The target for the first phase of the Central Kalimantan project is to develop 30,000 hectares, where two thirds will be in the Kapuas Regency, while the rest will be in the Pulang Pisau regency. The project is estimated to produce 7 tons of rice per hectare. As of now, the project has already developed 4,200 hectares.
(Sources: Mongabay; The Jakarta Post)
