JAKARTA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia aims to stop importing garlic within the next three to four years as part of President Prabowo Subianto's food self-sufficiency agenda, deputy agriculture minister Sudaryono said Wednesday.
More than 90 percent of Indonesia's garlic supply is imported, Sudaryono told a press conference in Jakarta, adding that the main challenges are securing suitable highland areas and developing locally adapted seeds.
He said garlic self-sufficiency would require around 100,000 hectares of farmland, far less than rice self-sufficiency efforts.
The government will first focus on seed development and other production constraints before gradually reducing import quotas as domestic output increases, he said. ■
