Prabowo Optimistic Indonesia to Be Global Food Barn

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President-elect Prabowo Subianto believes that Indonesia has the potential to become a global food exporter and a center of the world's food supply chain. However, Member of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IV from the Golkar Party Faction, Hanan Rozak, acknowledged that this is a challenging goal.

“Yesterday, I heard Mr. Prabowo say that we should no longer import food. This is an extraordinary challenge,” he stated during a hearing with the Agriculture Ministry at the Parliament Building on Monday, August 26, 2024.

He highlighted that despite Indonesia's agricultural heritage, the country has imported millions of tons of rice in the past two years. He also emphasized the rice self-sufficiency achieved during the President Soeharto era and expressed concern about the lack of investor interest in the Ministry of Agriculture's target of 1 million hectares of rice fields.

“This indicates that the rice economy is not attractive. How can we mobilize several million hectares?” Hanan questioned.

At the same meeting, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman confirmed the numerous challenges facing domestic agriculture, particularly in the rice commodity. “We used to be against imports, but the reality on the ground reveals too many problems,” he admitted.

He explained that the extreme El Niño climate and drought conditions in Central Java, East Java, and West Java pose significant challenges. Additionally, he emphasized that the country has previously made efforts towards rice self-sufficiency. He noted that even in 1984, when Indonesia achieved self-sufficiency, imports accounted for 10 percent, and the maximum imports at that time were equivalent to half the current population.

“During the current government's era, the population has nearly doubled, making our efforts towards self-sufficiency even more remarkable,” he said.

For the future, the Agriculture Minister stated that the government aims to expand rice fields by 1 million hectares and expressed confidence in achieving this goal. He revealed that the Ministry has developed a blueprint for the period 2025-2029, which is expected to be completed within a month.

Rice production initiatives have already been implemented in Merauke, with 20,000 hectares of rice fields, and the target is to expand this to 40,000 hectares in the near future. Additionally, there are plans to develop 100,000 hectares of rice fields in Kalimantan within the next three years.

“God willing, Indonesia will not face a food shortage,” Minister Andi asserted.

Previously, Prabowo had emphasized food security as one of his key priorities for his next leadership. His team's calculations suggest that Indonesia could achieve food self-sufficiency within the next five years. Moreover, they estimate that Indonesia has the potential to become a global food exporter.

“We will become the world's food barn,” Prabowo declared at the closing of the 6th Congress of the National Mandate Party (PAN) on Saturday, August 24, 2024, as monitored through the PAN TV YouTube channel.

ILONA ESTHERINA

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