deli Serdang To Boost Rice Production

Lubuk Pakam, July 23 (ANTARA) - The district administration of Lubuk Pakam, North Sumatra, said it will continue to provide facilities to boost its rice production . The government will provide more farming tools, distribute high yield seed varieties and improve infrastructure, chief of the Deli Serdang agriculture office Eka Rezeki Yanti Danil said. "We will seek to increase rice production by phases in Deli Serdang," Eka said here on Monday. Last year, Deli Serdang`s rice production totaled 427,164 tons or an increase of 20.68 percent on-year. The district hopes to produce 590,000 tons of rice in 2014 when the country hopes to chalk up a surplus of 10 million tons, she said. In order to reach the target, Deli Serdang has built and repaired farming infrastructure including irrigation systems and farm access roads . The district administration has also provided capital assistance of Rp100 million for each of 127 groups of local farmers. "With all the contributions we are confident Deli Serdang would reach its rice production target of 590.000 tons in 2014," she said. With that production Deli Serdang alone would exceed North Sumatra rice production target by 35 percent, she added. Deli Serdang is one of the largest rice production centers in North Sumatra. Other production centers include the regencies of Serdang Bedagai, Toba Samosir, Samosir, North Tapanuli and Dairi. Deli Serdang received a token of appreciation from the central government for success in maintaining significant increase in rice production iover the past years. The citation was presented by the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Deli Serdang regent Amri Tambunan in Jakarta on 18 Juli 2012.