Special food crop project planned

Special food crop project planned

JAKARTA (JP): Three government institutions agreed yesterday
to carry out a pilot project on the establishment of food
reserves for emergency situations by planting food crops in
unproductive forests.

"We hope the program will account for 15 percent of the
national food reserves in the next five years," State Minister of
Food Ibrahim Hasan said at a ceremony for the singing of a joint
decree on the project.

Ibrahim signed the decree with Minister of Forestry Djamaludin
Suryohadikusumo and Armed Forces chief General Feisal Tanjung.

Ibrahim said that the program will be implemented in 10
provinces which, based on a feasibility study prepared by the
Bogor Institute of Agriculture, have unproductive forests
suitable for the planting of food crops.

"In the first stage, we will begin implementing the project
next month in 100 hectares of forested areas in each of five
provinces: Lampung, Central and East Kalimantan, Irian Jaya and
East Timor," he said.

Implementation in the five other provinces -- Aceh, West
Sumatra, West and South Kalimantan and Maluku -- will start
between 1996 and 1997, he added.

He said the first stage was likely to cost Rp 1.25 billion
(US$549,934), which will be financed jointly by the forestry
ministry, the office of the minister of food and the Armed
Forces.

Tanjung said that members of the Armed Forces will help
farmers in surrounding areas in carrying out the project.(04)