Indonesia’s Minister of Agriculture has allocated an additional IDR 9.95 trillion for distributing free seedlings across border regions, with a focus on northeastern Kalimantan. The effort was emphasised at a regional farmers’ event in Tarakan, where symbolic handovers of cocoa and pandan coconut seedlings were made to farmers. The government sees Kalimantan’s border zones, particularly those bordering Malaysia, as strategic for cultivating export-oriented commodities like cocoa, coconut, and corn — both to ramp up foreign shipments and to counter cross-border smuggling.
Beyond stimulating exports, the minister also claimed progress in Indonesia’s agricultural self-sufficiency policy: the nation has halted imports of premium rice and aims to soon announce self-sufficiency. The plan calls for rapid proposals from local governments in Kalimantan to deploy the funds, with the minister urging quick action to ensure the seedling support reaches farmers soon.
