Jakarta – The government has ensured that Indonesia will achieve food self-sufficiency by 2025.
This success is supported by various strategic policies, one of which is the land optimization program, which can increase agricultural productivity without the need to clear new land.
The Director General of Agricultural Land and Irrigation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Hermanto, stated that land optimization is a crucial strategy for boosting national rice production.
This program focuses on improving agricultural infrastructure and optimizing existing rice fields.
“We received direct direction from the Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, to intensify land optimization. With land optimization, rice fields that previously could only be planted once can now be planted two to three times a year,” said Hermanto.
He explained that land optimization activities are being carried out comprehensively, starting from the preparation of Surveys, Investigations, and Designs (SID) and the construction and rehabilitation of embankments, sluice gates, irrigation channels, and drainage at the farm level.
This program also includes the construction of water pump units, land cultivation using agricultural tools and machinery, and post-plantation land management assistance.
“There’s already a lot of evidence in the field. Productivity has increased, harvests can be done more than twice a year, and farmers’ incomes have also increased,” said Hermanto.
As of January 1, 2026, the land optimization program has shown significant results. Of the 500,000-hectare target by 2025, SID realization has reached 98.64 percent.
Meanwhile, construction progress has reached 78 percent and is being implemented in 24 agricultural center provinces.
Several activities will continue until March 2026 through the RPATA scheme in accordance with Minister of Finance Regulation Number 84 of 2025.
The Ministry of Agriculture ensures that all strategic targets for the agricultural sector throughout 2025 have been achieved.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Sudaryono, emphasized that the focus on food self-sufficiency is in line with President Prabowo Subianto’s directives.
“So far, it has been achieved. We are indeed focused on self-sufficiency,” he said.
Throughout 2025, the government will not import rice, corn, or consumer sugar. This is reinforced by the Government’s Rice Reserves, which reached 3.39 million tons at the end of the year.
This achievement marks an important milestone for national food self-sufficiency and demonstrates the accelerated realization of targets previously set for the medium term.
President Prabowo Subianto also expressed his appreciation for the performance of the national food sector under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture.
“In the food sector, this is one of our most encouraging achievements. I gave us four years to return to self-sufficiency, and our food team has succeeded. God willing, we will achieve self-sufficiency within one year,” said Prabowo. ****
