Newly Appointed Minister of Agriculture Aims to Halt Rice Import
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Editor
25 October 2023 18:38 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After his inauguration, newly appointed Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman is planning to halt rice imports to a full stop. Amran mentioned that he was mandated by President Joko Widodo or Jokowi to accelerate rice production.
The minister was also optimistic about Indonesia's rice self-sufficiency. "If God willing, [Indonesia] could become self-sufficient. It's a piece of cake," he said when met at the ministry office today, October 25.
Amran previously acted as Minister of Agriculture during the 2014-2019 period. He is once again appointed as the minister since Syahrul Yasin Limpo was allegedly involved in a corruption case.
He also claimed Indonesia was self-sufficient for a consecutive 3-4 years during Jokowi's administration. Thus, he is sure that Indonesia will be able to halt rice imports.
Meanwhile, Indonesia has been importing rice over the past year, amounting to 3.15 million tonnes. The rice import also hiked up during Amran's time as the minister. In 2018, the rice import amounted to 2.2 million tonnes from the previous 35,000 tonnes with no appropriate. care.
RIANI SANSI PUTRI
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