Jambi (ANTARA News) - The Environment Ministry with the help of the Agriculture Mnistry will intensify its efforts to empower farmers in peat land areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan by providing them with plant seeds, a ministry official said.
The ministry`s efforts were designed to keep the farmers from practicing the slash-and-burn method in clearing land for plantations in fire-prone peat land regions, Masnelliyarti Hilman, third deputy for natural resources conservation empowerment and environmental degradation control at the Environment Ministry, said here Thursday.
Through the empowerment program, the farmers would be trained to cultivate peat land plants and utilize food wastes to make briquettes, she said.
Implementation of the program would be focused on the eastern coasts of Sumatra and Kalimantan as well as in Jambi, Riau, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan, she said.
Meanwhile, the Forestry Ministry said it would help anticipate and manage forest fires that frequently occurr in peat land regions.
The ministry was giving special attention to peat land areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan as they were prone to fires.
The government would also hold a workshop on agricultural development of peat land in Jakarta on June 26.
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