Jakarta (ANTARA) - Achieving food self-sufficiency to make Indonesia a global food barn is one of the missions of the Asta Cita program of President- and Vice President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Prabowo and Gibran, scheduled to take an oath of office for 2024-2029 presidential term on Sunday, October 20, 2024, are targeting a minimum increase of up to 4 hectares in the area of harvested land by 2029.
They will also seek to increase the productivity of agricultural land by implementing land intensification and extensification programs at the village, sub-district, district/city, and national levels.
The programs will be carried out in a more effective, integrated, and sustainable manner for commodities such as rice, corn, soybeans, cassava, sugar cane, sago, and breadfruit.
According to Prabowo, with the right efforts, Indonesia can tap its natural potential to increase food production significantly.
Agriculture is a very important sector, particularly as a determinant of how the nation will face future challenges, as well as the most strategic sector, especially for developing the economy amid the threat of a global crisis, he explained.
Prabowo has a special interest in the agricultural sector, which is a basic sector for building people's resilience, and wants to strengthen productivity with the help of mechanization technology, youth involvement, and industrial downstreaming.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman is optimistic that the target of achieving food self-sufficiency within four years can be achieved under the Prabowo administration.
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"We are sure, if his target four years, we are sure, very sure that it can be achieved. Why? In the past, we were self-sufficient, that was (for) three years and it was four times (harvests per year)," he explained.
According to the minister, rice will be the main focus of efforts to build food self-sufficiency, and afterward, measures will be taken to make the country self-sufficient in corn production.
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He explained that measures to increase rice and corn production need to be carried out one by one so that the target of food self-sufficiency can be achieved.
He added that young farmers have a vital role in encouraging food self-sufficiency in Indonesia.
Government efforts
According to Minister Sulaiman, currently, the Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging young farmers, including those from South Sulawesi Province.
The ministry has donated various modern agricultural tools for millennial and Generation Z farmers in the province, with the number of targeted recipients pegged at 50 thousand.He appealed to farmers to revolutionize Indonesia's farming sector and build modern agriculture by implementing technology and mechanization in all processes. "This is a big challenge, but through hard work and innovation, we are optimistic that we can achieve it," he said.