South Kalimantan optimistic about 1.3 million tonne rice target despite drought

The Provincial Government of South Kalimantan is optimistic about achieving a rice production target of 1.3 million tonnes in 2026 despite facing a prolonged dry season, through accelerating the additional planting area programme involving the central government, regency and city administrations, agricultural extension workers, and farmers.

Head of the South Kalimantan Food Crops and Food Security Agency, Syamsir Rahman, stated that the acceleration of additional planting areas, which has reached 18,882 hectares, is the main strategy for increasing rice production, requiring collaboration among all stakeholders to move in one direction and support each other.

“This additional planting area is very important to keep South Kalimantan’s rice production high,” he said.

He urged regency and city governments to accelerate the realisation of additional planting areas by optimising all productive land potential and to report on implementation progress regularly as a basis for evaluation and further action.

In addition to inter-agency support, the acceleration of additional planting areas is carried out through intensive assistance by agricultural extension workers, field officers, and the Indonesian National Armed Forces so that farmers receive guidance from planting preparation to monitoring crop development in the field.

Syamsir requested that any obstacles faced by regency and city governments be coordinated immediately so that solutions can be found more quickly to keep the planting acceleration on track with the target.

He conveyed that the challenge of the dry season remains a concern in programme implementation, but strengthening synergy among stakeholders is a priority to minimise its impact on achieving the rice production target throughout the year.

“By strengthening synergy, accelerating additional planting areas, assisting farmers, and maintaining consistent coordination, we are optimistic about achieving the 1.3 million tonne rice production target in 2026 while reinforcing South Kalimantan’s role as a national food buffer,” said Syamsir Rahman.