Subang, West Java (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Food, Zulkifli Hasan, has outlined several strategies for achieving food self-sufficiency by 2028.He said that improvements in various agricultural sectors could help accelerate efforts to build food sufficiency.
"We must improve every part such as seeds and irrigation. For fertilizer, we have increased the total stock from 4.5 million tons to more than 9 million tons," he noted on Thursday.
Furthermore, the plan to open more rice fields, initiated by Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman, is another strategy that must continue to be followed up, Hasan said.
"Minister Sulaiman is excellent. He opened more rice fields in Merauke and also in Central Kalimantan. From various sides, we are improving our efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency quickly," he added.
The minister also emphasized the importance of utilizing technological innovations in the food sector, such as the use of rice harvesting machines and spreading fertilizer with the help of drones.
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He said that such agricultural technologies can be utilized by farmers and farmer groups. Furthermore, Indonesia must start switching to modern farming methods to increase farm productivity, he added.
Earlier, the minister said that expanding planting outside Java could also help achieve the food self-sufficiency target within five years. Hasan informed that he has been specifically tasked by President Prabowo Subianto to realize food and energy self-sufficiency.
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To realize the food self-sufficiency target, he will use Papua as the center of the food barn.
"The future of Indonesia is in Papua; it is being implemented seriously," he said on October 21, 2024.
The former trade minister said that various types of staple crops can be planted in eastern Indonesia, such as rice, corn, and sugar cane.
"Hopefully, in the next five years, we can go to two million hectares of rice fields and 600 thousand to 1 million hectares of sugar cane plantations. Rice and corn farming is in Papua," he added.