By: Dani Pratama )*
Food self-sufficiency is the initial foundation that determines the direction of national development during the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. Since the first year of their administration, the food sector has been prioritized because it is directly related to economic stability, national independence, and the welfare of the people. Throughout 2025, various strategic policies implemented by the government have shown tangible results, particularly in achieving rice self-sufficiency, which strengthens the foundation of national economic sovereignty.
The government views food self-sufficiency not simply as a production target, but as a long-term strategy to secure the people’s basic needs while reducing dependence on the global market. With this approach, the production of primary commodities is being aggressively promoted through improved governance, strengthened incentives for farmers, and restructuring the distribution system. The initial focus is on rice as a strategic commodity, before moving on to other protein sources and food commodities.
By 2025, the Prabowo-Gibran administration claimed success in achieving rice self-sufficiency, marked by the cessation of imports of this commodity. This achievement is not a stand-alone achievement, but rather the result of consistent policies since the beginning of the year, including the issuance of Presidential Instruction Number 6 of 2025, which emphasizes optimizing the absorption of local farmers’ unhusked rice and rice. This policy ensures maximum harvest absorption while maintaining price stability for both farmers and consumers.
The Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, assessed that the acceleration of rice self-sufficiency has exceeded the initial target set by the president. Based on projections from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), national rice production is expected to increase significantly by millions of tons throughout 2025. This increase in production coincides with the strengthening of government rice reserves at the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), which has reached its highest level in decades. This situation provides the government with broader fiscal and policy space to maintain national food stability.
In addition to production, the government is also paying close attention to farmers’ production costs. Reforming the distribution of subsidized fertilizer is a crucial step in supporting food self-sufficiency. In October 2025, the government reduced the highest retail price of subsidized fertilizer by 20 percent through industrial efficiency and governance improvements, without increasing the burden on the state budget. This price reduction covers all major fertilizers used by farmers, thus directly reducing farming costs.
This measure strengthens farmers’ position as key players in food self-sufficiency. With lower production costs and guaranteed access to harvests, farmers have a stronger incentive to increase productivity. The government views this support as an absolute prerequisite for food self-sufficiency to be sustainable, not temporary.
Furthermore, the government recognizes that increased production will not be optimal without infrastructure support. Through Presidential Instruction Number 2 of 2025, a massive irrigation network repair and rehabilitation program was implemented in various regions. Irrigation improvements covering millions of hectares were carried out in an integrated manner across administrative regions, with the aim of ensuring adequate water availability for productive agricultural land.
Structural challenges remain, particularly the shrinking agricultural land area on Java Island due to population growth and land conversion. Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, Zulkifli Hasan, highlighted this situation as a serious problem that must be addressed by expanding food barns outside Java. The government then directed the development of new food areas, including in Merauke, Papua, and encouraged the use of superior varieties and seeds that are more adaptive and productive.
Efforts to maintain agricultural land sustainability were also strengthened through policies to control land conversion. The Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN), Nusron Wahid, implemented a limited moratorium on changes in the function of rice fields in areas with unsynchronized data. The government considers improving land data a crucial foundation for the effective and targeted implementation of agricultural land protection policies.
After strengthening rice self-sufficiency, the government began expanding its focus to self-sufficiency in protein-rich foods. Towards the end of 2025, programs to increase egg, chicken, and fisheries production began to be intensified, with a target of achieving this by 2026. The government is preparing to build feed factories, develop fish ponds, and establish fishing villages to strengthen the national protein production ecosystem.
Further steps are also directed at sugar and salt commodities.The Indonesian government is planning a significant expansion of sugarcane plantations as a basis for ending white sugar imports. The Minister of Agriculture stated that optimizing sugarcane plantations, particularly in East Java, is key to achieving sugar self-sufficiency in the near future. This approach underscores the government’s commitment to building food sovereignty in a gradual and measured manner.
Overall, achieving food self-sufficiency by 2025 reflects the Prabowo-Gibran administration’s commitment to strengthening national economic sovereignty. With integrated policies from upstream to downstream, a clear commitment to farmers, and more efficient resource management, food self-sufficiency is not only a symbol of success in the agricultural sector but also a crucial foundation for Indonesia’s future economic resilience.
)* The author is a contributor to the Pertiwi Institute