Agam Proposes Acquisition of Excavators from Ministry of Agriculture to Clear Landslide Debris

Lubuk Basung (ANTARA) - The Agam Regency Government in West Sumatra has proposed 20 units of heavy equipment, specifically excavators, to the Ministry of Agriculture to clear the remaining flood debris that has buried farmers’ rice fields in the area.

“We have proposed this to the Minister of Agriculture during a meeting a few days ago,” said Agam Regent Benni Warlis in Lubuk Basung on Thursday.

He stated that the heavy equipment is intended for each of the 16 sub-districts in Agam, with four units specifically for Tanjung Raya Sub-district.

The heavy equipment will be used to clear the flood debris that has buried farmers’ rice fields, as the material cannot be removed manually.

With this assistance, farmers’ rice fields can be utilised again for planting.

“This assistance is very much needed to remove the flood debris so that the land can be utilised once more,” he said.

He added that Agam also requires rehabilitation of 200 hectares of rice fields, improvement of infrastructure for optimising 200 hectares of land, rehabilitation of 150 irrigation network units, 20 piped irrigation units, 10 pumped irrigation units, 10 retention basins, and 4 ditch dams.

Following that, agricultural machinery such as hand tractors, hydrotylers, cultivators, corn shellers, threshers, and hand sprayers.

He acknowledged that the Ministry of Agriculture through the Directorate General of Land and Irrigation has allocated assistance amounting to Rp29.08 billion in 2026 for repairing rice field infrastructure affected by the flash floods in the area.

The repairs are carried out in two phases, and the physical realisation of the activities allocated in phase one shows very satisfactory progress, including rehabilitation of 311 hectares of rice fields and improvement of infrastructure for optimising 294 hectares of land.

This is followed by the construction of 35 ditch dams, 53 pumped irrigation units, 27 piped irrigation units, and maintenance of 21 tertiary irrigation networks.

For phase two assistance, it includes additional improvements to infrastructure for optimising 93 hectares of land, rehabilitation of two farmer access roads, and optimisation of 1,000 hectares of non-swamp land.

“This certainly provides new hope for the recovery of the agricultural sector in Agam and is very meaningful for the affected communities in driving post-disaster recovery,” he said.