TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo today, Nov. 27, inspected the Rumpin Seed Source and Nursery Center in Bogor Regency, West Java. The seeds were planned to be delivered to locations hit by ecological disasters.

“This is a seed nursery site that we have been preparing. We hope that next year, 2021, it will be completed and ready to start production. From here, there will approximately be 16 million seedlings produced,” said the President.

The seeds, he added, would be distributed to areas that often experience floods and landslides. Other than the ecological function, Joko Widodo hoped that the seed center would plant crops with economic values. “Because in the future, we want to develop a green economy,” he underlined.

The seed center will occupy an area of 159.58 hectares, consisting of a seed zone, a community management zone, a training zone, and a business development zone.

The construction of the center, he went on, would be a starting point and a pilot program for similar future projects in other locations, including Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and Likupang in North Sulawesi. The project does not include the construction of a nursery intended for the restoration programs of mangrove forests.

“We have planned to work on about 630,000 hectares of mangroves areas so that we also need a nursery center,” said Jokowi.

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EGI ADYATAMA