Plan on `Agropolitan' announced

Plan on `Agropolitan' announced

JAKARTA (JP): The Municipal Agriculture Office has drawn up a
strategic plan for maximizing the use of small plots of land by
planting crops with high economic value.

Maharanto, the chief of the office, said that the
"agropolitan" policy was established to cope with the fact that
the area of farmland in Jakarta has decreased every year to make
way for construction.

"We decided to concentrate on the 'agropolitan' pattern in
which high technology is used to produce high quality output from
small plots of land," Maharanto told reporters here yesterday at
a press conference on a horticulture exhibition.

He cited fruit, vegetables and orchids as crops with high
economic values.

Available data show that in Jakarta there are a total of 3,333
hectares of rice fields and 27,874 hectares of plantations. In
1993 the area of farmland had decreased by 12 percent from the
previous year.

Maharanto said that the office will try to keep the program in
line with city planning.

He explained that Jakarta's agricultural products cannot meet
the ever increasing demands from the public. Last year the demand
for fruit reached 209,883 tons, while plantations in and around
the capital produced only 42,314 tons. The demand for vegetables
in the corresponding period was 373,291 tons and the production
was 47,603 tons.

"The shortages are usually covered from other provinces, such
as West Java, Central Java, East Java and Lampung, as well as by
imports from other countries. Nationally, Indonesia's imports of
fruits and vegetables account for 12 percent of the total
demand," Maharanto said.

In cooperation with an agricultural association, his office
has started a program to make agriculture more profitable through
public presentation and special courses. Little impact has been
felt from this effort as yet.

"Most Jakartans are not patient enough to wait, they want a
quick investment return. I understand the situation because
agriculture needs big investment and it takes time before things
start to produce," Maharanto explained.

He added that most Jakartans prefer to invest in the property
business, by building structures on their land for rent.

Maharanto said that his office will hold a horticulture
exhibition at the Ragunan Camping Ground, South Jakarta, from
Dec. 8 to Dec. 18. It will present many kinds of Indonesian
plants, including rare ones. (yns)