Minister Allocates Fund for Official Travels for Farm Development

Bojonegoro (Antara) - Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said he had allocated Rp4.1 trillion from official trip budget for farm development in a number of areas in the planting season of 2015. "A total of Rp4.1 trillion will be cut from official trip budget of the ministry to be used such as for the procurement of 10,000 tractors to be given to farmers," the minister said here on Friday. He said he already reported to police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) about the reallocation of the fund for the procurement of farming machines , seeds, and repairs of irrigation systems . "In principle the fund would be used for productive purposes," he said . He said Bojonegoro will have a share of the reallocation in the form of 460 units of tractors and repair of irrigation systems for 4,500 hectares of rice fields . "We will give the assistance only to district under regents showing concern with farm development such as Bojonegoro," he said. He said in the event of pest attacks, pesticides should be available before the crop was entirely destroyed by pest. He said the government set rice production target this year at 73 million tons in dry unhulled rice , up from last year's production of 70 million tons. The government has set a target that the country would be self sufficient in rice in three years. (*)