Merauke — The government continues to boost the national food self-sufficiency program by optimizing agricultural land in Papua, especially in Merauke Regency, South Papua Province. This strategic step is not only an answer to domestic needs, but also opens up opportunities for Indonesia to become the world’s food barn.
The Minister of Agriculture (Mentan), Andi Amran Sulaiman, emphasized that the government has opened one million hectares of new agricultural land in Merauke as part of efforts to realize national food self-sufficiency. According to him, the utilization of idle land in Papua is an important step so that Indonesia is no longer dependent on imports, and even has the potential to become a food supplier for other countries.
“We have opened 1 million hectares of rice fields in Papua (Merauke). If we don’t open new agricultural land, where will we get food?” said Minister of Agriculture Amran in his official statement.
He also said that the government’s policy in setting the Highest Retail Price (HET) for rice at IDR 6,500 per kilogram is real evidence of the state’s support for farmers and the people.
“Now farmers are happy, production has increased, our food is strong, our stock is the highest in 20 years,” he added optimistically.
In line with the Minister of Agriculture, the Acting Governor of Papua, Ramses Limbong, assessed that the food self-sufficiency program is a strategic step in facing global uncertainty, including the impact of the trade policy of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, which imposed import tariffs and import duties of up to 32 percent.
“What we need to boost is how to increase food self-sufficiency, especially in the agricultural sector,” explained Ramses.
According to him, strengthening domestic food production is the best answer to the challenges of an uncertain global market. The Papua Provincial Government is also ready to support central government policies, while waiting for further technical instructions to support local exporters.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Papua and West Papua Bulog Region, Ahmad Mustari, stated that accelerating the absorption of harvest results is a top priority in supporting food security in eastern Indonesia.
“Merauke is one of the national food powers in eastern Indonesia. We want to ensure that every grain of rice harvested by farmers gets a proper place in the market,” said Ahmad.
Bulog, he continued, is committed to not only facilitating logistics and rice distribution, but also ensuring economic sustainability for farmers. Ahmad emphasized that by optimizing land in Merauke, Papua will continue to be an important mainstay in realizing Indonesia’s food self-sufficiency.
With its extraordinary potential, Papua is now not only Indonesia’s hope, but also a potential world food center.
