DILI, 28 september 2023 (TATOLI) – Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry (MALFF) has allocated $150,000 to collect data on rice fields to conduct the national action plan 2024–2028 to increase rice production in Timor-Leste, The National Director of Agriculture and Horticulture, Lucio R. Ribeiro, informed
According to Ribeiro, national data collection on rice fields was carried out based on the policy of the Minister of Agriculture.
“We have allocated $150,000 to conduct the collection of data on rice fields nationally, which will be carried out internally from MALLF in the near future,” National Director, Lucio Ribeiro told TATOLI at his office in Kampung Merdeka, Comoro Dili, on Tuesday.
“The budget of 150,000 will be used to buy three laptops, three drone cameras, and operational costs for the Ministry of Agriculture’s staff to conduct the national data collection on rice fields in Timor-Leste,” he said.
Ribeiro explained that the purpose of collecting data on rice fields is to verify the potential rice fields that still exist, and from this data, the Ministry of Agriculture, together with its General Directors, will prepare an action plan from 2024 to 2028 to increase rice productivity in Timor-Leste.
“The data collection on rice fields will focus on municipalities that have more potential land for growing rice. The results of the data collection will become a guideline for drafting action plans for 2024–2028 during the next 5 years to increase the local rice production in Timor-Leste in the future.”
Thus, in a short time, the team from MALFF will soon conduct a meeting with the local authorities and farmers to implement this project in october 2023.
According to the data, Timor-Leste has 86,000 hectares of rice fields and has only used 36,000 hectares for rice production.
36,000 hectares have produced 86,000 tons of rice every year, so it is still not sufficient for national consumption. Therefore, the national collection data for rice fields aims to identify the new potential land of rice fields as the guideline for drafting action plans for 2024–2028 during the next 5 years to increase the local rice production in Timor-Leste in the future.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
