TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice presidential candidate Muhaimin Iskandar (Cak Imin) recalled the message of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) founder KH Hasyim Asy'ari about farmers as the heroes of the country.

"Farmers are the heroes of the country, but today we see the state ignoring the lives of farmers and fishermen," he said during the second vice presidential debate held at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) on Sunday evening.

The other two vice presidential candidates, Gibran Rakabuming Raka and Mahfud MD, also joined the debate.

He explained that the government's neglect of farmers was shown in the agricultural census conducted by Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

The census showed the number of smallholders, or those with less than half a hectare of agricultural land, reached 16 million households in the last decade.

"Meanwhile, there is someone who owns almost 500 thousand hectares of land, granted by the government," said Cak Imin, who is the National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairman.

The presidential and vice presidential candidate pair Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar (AMIN) carries their vision, mission, and work program with the theme "Just and Prosperous Indonesia for All."

AMIN has the "eight paths of change", which include ensuring the availability of staple and basic commodities and low living costs through food independence, energy security, and water sovereignty.

To realize this mission, AMIN proposes food independence by ensuring the availability and affordability of fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, animal feed, and agricultural medicines.

AMIN also promotes the agenda to provide agricultural equipment and machinery assistance with the latest technology, build warehouse facilities to reduce harvest loss rates, and regulate food supply to maintain price stability.

After the first debate on December 12, 2023, the second on December 22, 2023, and the third debate on January 7, 2024, KPU held the fourth debate on January 21, 2024, with the themes of energy, natural resources, food, carbon tax, environment, agrarian affairs, and indigenous peoples.

ANTARA

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