The Food Estate Program,
What’s the Rush?

Ministry of Agriculture cannot say that the yield is a failure. In addition, he says that it is not easy to cultivate due to the existence of swamps with 1.5 meters height and high-level pH (acid).

Due to the acceleration of crop-planting pattern that is recommended by the government, about 90% of farmers in Belanti were in huge loss.

Head of Horticulture and Agriculture Department of Central Kalimantan denied the fact that the yields were a failure, which he then elaborated it as the productivity drop due to strong winds and heavy rain.

200-250 hectares croplands were harvested and produced various results. Partially, farmers harvested the green crops which are not ready to be harvested yet due to strong winds that cause destruction to the plants.

Central Kalimantan’s food barn is in threat of crop failure and does not meet the expectation of many farmers due to many factors influenced such as the acceleration of planting stage and rice seeds which do not meet the land suitability.

President Joko Widodo requested the local governments to accelerate the food estate program establishment which is targeted to finish on 2021. In addition to the request, he asked local state chiefs to expedite the food estate permit issues.

The Central Kalimantan Provincial Government holds a meeting of the Environmental Impact Assessment Commission to discuss food estate activities.

The Ministry of Agriculture is optimistic that the preparation of the initial 30,000 hectares (74,100 acres) will be completed on time in December 2020 and that planting can take place early in 2021.

The deputy for regional development and spatial planning within the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs says 90,000 hectares (222,300 acres) of land has been cleared for the food estate and food estate masterplan is still being drafted and 60% of the environmental impact assessment has been completed.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment confirms the locations of food estates sites in Central Kalimantan and North Sumatra do not cross the boundaries of protected forests or other conservation areas.

The Environment and Forestry Minister says the 165,000 hectares (407,550 acres) of land for the food estate is not peatland and is not located within protected forest.

Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar issues Minister of Environment and Forestry Law No. 24 of 2020, which authorizes the conversion of protected forest to food estate.

The Central Kalimantan Provincial Government holds a public consultation on the preparation of an environmental impact assessment for the rehabilitation and improvement of the swamp irrigation network in the food estate area, which totals 165,000 hectares (407,550 acres).

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing plans to build roads and bridges totaling 111.97 kilometers (69.42 miles) to connect the food estate. The construction will cost 1.129 trillion rupiah ($81 million).

The Minister of Public Works and Housing says construction work for the rehabilitation and improvement of the Block A irrigation network began in September 2020. The project is worth 738.04 billion rupiah and is being carried out by the contractors PT Wijaya Karya, PT Hutama Karya and PT Adipatria.

The Environmental and Forestry Ministerial Regulation No. 24 2020 on the Provision of Forest for Food Estate was signed. One of the main point on this regulation is that protected forest area can be utilized for food estate.

President Joko Widodo plants the first seed on the food estate. Besides rice, food estate sites will also develop other commodities. Within each area of 1,000 hectares on the Central Kalimantan food estate, some will be dedicated to commodities other than rice. If this model is successful, it will be replicated.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Indonesian army sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the food estate program in Central Kalimantan.

The Minister of Defense says the food estate program will continue to grow to an estimated 1.4 million hectares (3.46 million acres) in Central Kalimantan.

The Ministry of Defense is to mobilize Indonesian army engineers to clear and grab land in preparation for cassava plantations in Gunung Mas District, Pulang Pisang District and Kapuas District.

The United Dayak Alliance rallies against using transmigration as a method of sourcing a labor force for the national food estate program in Central Kalimantan. They claim the program sidelines the local communities.

The Ministry of Agriculture commits to providing agricultural equipment and infrastructure worth approximately 379 billion rupiah.

President Joko Widodo allocates 104.2 trillion rupiah to food security for 2021. Some of the money will be used to develop large-scale food estates.

The Ministry of Agriculture says it has prepared 770,600 hectares (1.9 million acres) of land in the former One Million Hectare Rice Project in Central Kalimantan for food estate crops. Rice can be cultivated on three land types: tidal swamps, lowlands and peatland.

The State Logistics Agency prepares to build a warehouse and rice mill at a food estate in Central Kalimantan.

President Joko Widodo and key politicians visit food estate sites at the village of Bentuk Jaya, Kapuas District and in Pulang Pisau District.

President Jokowi states his intention to form an agency to manage the development of food estates. It will work with investment partners, state-owned enterprises and other stakeholders.

The Ministry of Defense is appointed as lead to strengthen the food estate program.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs says the government will provide a further 6 trillion rupiah for three to four years of the food estate program.

The Minister of Agriculture emphasized that he would not carry out a program to cultivate new rice fields on peatland this year, but will only intervene on mineral swamp lands with a water depth of 1 meter.

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An interim report is issued on a strategic environmental impact assessment for the food estate site planned by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

The development of the food estate program is to be carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises through an investment scheme.

Developing food estates is recommended as one of the country's 89 strategic projects and named the "Program to Improve Food Supply in Central Kalimantan." This recommendation is legalized in the Revised PSEL Presidential Decree issued by the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment.

The Public Works and Public Housing Coordination Meeting finds that 295,500 hectares of blocks A and D on the former One Million Hectare Rice Project site could be developed. Of that, ​​165,000 hectares already possesses an irrigation system, while ​​79,500 hectares requires extensification.

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Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartanto estimates Indonesia will hold 4.7 million tonnes of rice stocks at the end of 2020, and says rice supply is secure to the end of the year.

Sunarti, head of Central Kalimantan's Food Crops, Horticulture and Animal Husbandry Agency, says 300,000 hectares of land has been prepared for food crops. He adds that if all proposals are approved by the government, the total land available for agriculture in Central Kalimantan will reach 663,287 hectares.

President Joko Widodo orders state-owned enterprises to open 900,000 hectares (2.22 million acres) of new rice fields on the wetlands and peatland of Central Kalimantan, in preparation for a potential food crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

FAO released the statement regarding Covid-19 pandemic and how it could influence the global food chain due to the decrease of labour resources which potentially hamper the food and logistic distribution.