Accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Central Java Governor
Bibit Waluyo, and a number of cabinet ministers, the president symbolically harvested Inpari-13 type pest-resistant rice before having a meeting with local residents.

The president said he was happy to be with the residents while
attending the grand harvest event, and then to have the opportunity to meet with them.

"I hope the hard work of the farmers can increase our rice
production to meet the national food security effort," the president added.

Further, Yudhoyono said he was earlier told that the rice field to be harvested had been attacked by pests, but when he arrived at the
location on Friday morning he learned that, in fact, no such loss of crops had occurred.

"After I received first hand information in the field, I found out
that no rice field here had been attacked by pests, and the reality is that we can conduct the grand harvest today," President Yudhoyono said.

Despite the emergence of a new species of pests due to climate
change, President Yudhoyono said the government would make every effort to provide farmers with effective pesticides.