Jakarta, June 17 -- The Ministry of Agriculture is targeting garlic self-sufficiency within three years through the development of planting land and the strengthening of nurseries.

"We need at least three to four years to achieve this (garlic) self-sufficiency," Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono said on Wednesday.

He noted that the target aims to reduce dependence on garlic imports, which currently still account for more than 90 percent of national demand.

According to him, the land required to achieve garlic self-sufficiency is estimated at around 100,000 hectares, considered smaller than the land needed to achieve rice self-sufficiency, which reaches millions of hectares.

He then disclosed that the main obstacle to the progra...