Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo hopes that North Sumatra (North Sumatra) will become a national food barn. "I hope that in the hands of the Governor of North Sumatra not only can meet the needs of North Sumatra, but also nationally, North Sumatra defends the country, God willing we can achieve it, I am ready whatever Mr. Governor wants to be here, I am ready," said Syahrul at the dinner of the Governor of Sumatra North Edy Rahmayadi at the Governor's Office House, Jalan Sudirman 41, Medan, Saturday (22/10/2022) night. According to Syahrul, agriculture can affect economic growth. During his tenure as Governor of South Sulawesi, agriculture was the engine of the province's economic growth. "Next year conditions are not good, all prices will go up, but we don't need to worry about rising world prices if we have enough food, enough rice, enough vegetables," said Syahrul. Meanwhile, the Governor of North Sumatra (North Sumatra) Edy Rahmayadi conveyed various efforts to improve food security in North Sumatra to the Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) of the Republic of Indonesia Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

Edy Rahyamadi also explained about mapping the area based on food availability. "Indeed, we are currently working to improve food, we continue to map out how food availability is in each district and city in North Sumatra," said Edy Rahmayadi. In this way, areas with a surplus of agricultural products can supply areas with shortages. So that price stability is maintained. North Sumatra also coordinates with other provinces that lack commodities. Edy reported that currently there are several food needs in North Sumatra which are in surplus, including rice, red chilies, cayenne pepper, chicken meat, chicken eggs, and cooking oil. The food needs that still need to be increased in production include shallots, garlic, and sugar. "For this sugar, we are working on sugar cane on an area of 20,000 hectares in Langkat," said Edy Rahmayadi accompanied by the North Sumatra Provincial Secretary (Sekdaprov) Arief Sudarto Trinugroho. Edy also reported that Singapore glanced at chickens from North Sumatra. "Yesterday someone came here from Singapore, interested in North Sumatran chickens, previously they used chicken from Malaysia, this is being discussed," he said.

Source: https://okemedan.com/2022/10/23/mentan-harap-sumut-jadi-lumbung-pangan-nasional/