TEMPO.CO, Trenggalek - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said the national rice stock is still sufficient so that throughout 2021 to date, the government does not need to import rice yet.

“In this year 2021 until today we have not imported rice and in fact, our stock is still in a very good position,” said the President in a statement after planting rice with farmers in Buluagung Village, Karangan District, Trenggalek Regency, East Java, on Tuesday, November 30.

Yesterday, the head of state inaugurated the Tugu Dam in Trenggalek Regency and the Gongseng Dam in Bojonegoro Regency.

He hoped that the dams could boost the harvest intensity and farmers' welfare. “With the presence of the Tugu Dam, as the water flows to the rice fields here, we will be able to harvest rice three times, and palawija (secondary crops) once,” he added. “So the crop productivity of each hectare in Trenggalek Regency can increase significantly.”

According to him, East Java alone could produce around 5.7 million tons of rice, both for its own needs and to supply other provinces across the archipelago.

Jokowi also ordered the Agriculture Minister to immediately tackle obstacles faced by farmers. “There are complaints from the farmers, mainly related to fertilizers and production equipment, I think we will discuss them later in Jakarta,” he said. “And [I order] Agriculture Minister to solve difficulties in the field as quickly as possible.”

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