Samarinda. The East Kalimantan government has turned a former mining area in the provincial capital Samarinda into agricultural land for rice cultivation. Acting Governor Akmal Malik said this initiative supports food self-sufficiency and the free nutritious meals program introduced by President Prabowo Subianto.

“Rice planting on former mining land is more productive compared to conventional paddy fields,” Akmal said on Thursday.

Akmal explained that the rice harvested on former mining land will increase the amount of paddy output. From this planting, the provincial government is optimistic that they will achieve rice harvests of up to four tons per hectare.

“The harvest from rice planting on former mining land can produce much more paddy compared to yields from typical rice fields,” he said.

Akmal further elaborated that the total area of former mining land in East Kalimantan is estimated to exceed 200,000 hectares. If half of this land is converted and cultivated for agriculture, East Kalimantan is expected to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2026.

“Imagine there are 200,000 hectares [of ex-mining lands] and if we use half of them for rice planting, we will be able to achieve self-sufficiency in food,” he said.