JAKARTA – The Directorate General of Horticulture of the Ministry of Agriculture believes that, with the help of other parties, it can contribute to realizing the Golden Indonesia 2045 proclaimed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
This is because horticultural crops (fruits, mushrooms, vegetables and medicinal plants) have quite high economic value and tend to be resistant to climate change.
Like now, for example, when the El Nino phenomenon threatens to dry up agricultural land, horticultural crops are expected to survive because they tend to require little water.
“It’s not easy to get 35 thousand cubic meters of water needed by the rice crops. Meanwhile, horticultural crops don’t need that much, only about 1/10 or even 1/20,” said Director General of Horticulture Prihasto Setyanto in a meeting with The Editor, Wednesday (6/9).
That way, he added, horticultural plants can still survive even in conditions where there is a slight shortage of water.
The life of these horticultural plants will later produce fruit, providing economic income to the people who care for them.
In an effort to contribute to realizing Golden Indonesia 2045, the Directorate General of Horticulture has a Horticulture Village program.
This program is none other than an effort to focus on the production of horticultural products on a village scale.
“This is to save costs. Let’s say, one village can produce tons of mangosteen fruit, for example, it will immediately meet the market needs. Compared to 1 ton of mangosteen harvested from this area, other areas will get 2 tons, it will take a long time to fill at least one truck that can load 5 to 6 tons,” explained Anto.
In its implementation, the Directorate of Horticulture provides guidance and supervision for horticultural farmers in villages throughout Indonesia.
They are targeting Indonesia to have more than 8,000 horticultural villages by the end of 2024.
With so many horticultural villages, it is hoped that local horticultural products can be enjoyed by local people and dominate the international market.
