Apply Agricultural Technology to Enhance Food Production

Palembang (Antara Bali) - Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla has called upon the people to apply agricultural technology to make the countrys agricultural sector more advanced.

If farmers could use agricultural technology, the countrys economy will become more advanced, the Vice President told journalists after observing a technology presentation held in conjunction with the celebration of the World Food Day here on Saturday.

Food diversity could also increase the countrys food resilience. Therefore, agricultural technology is quite important because it could increase farm production.

More importantly, it is the farmers who should take a lead in applying technology. After all, agricultural land cannot be increased and therefore, resorting to application of agricultural technology is the only way out.

The country needs to develop food crops that do not need much water and can survive even a drought.

On this occasion, the Vice President also called upon companies to preserve the environment to ensure that it remains sustainable.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla is on a working visit to South Sumatra to commemorate the World Food Day at Ogan Ilir district and Jakabaring Sport City on Saturday.

World Food Day was observed on October 16 to raise awareness about the challenges in addressing world hunger and encourage people to become involved in the fight against it.

The theme for 2015 is "Social protection and agriculture: Breaking the cycle of rural poverty," which puts the spotlight on the link between ending hunger and food insecurity by enhancing social protection, a key tool in breaking the cycle of poverty.

Vice President Kalla and his entourage left Halim Perdanakusuma airport in Jakarta at 7 am local time, 30 minutes behind their original scheduled time of 6.30 am.

The Air Force VVIP Boeing 737-400 which the vice president and his entourage boarded was delayed by 30 minutes because visibility at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang was only 500 meters at 6.30 am.

However, the vice presidents aircraft arrived safely in Palembang at 8 am Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB).

During this visit, Kalla was accompanied by numerous ministers, including Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman and Communication and Information Minister Rudi Antara. (WDY)