President Prabowo’s Commitment to Building Food Self-Sufficiency Receives Public Appreciation
By: Dhita Karuniawati )*
President Prabowo Subianto is committed to realizing national food self-sufficiency during his administration. The food self-sufficiency target given to the Red and White Cabinet is projected to be 3 years faster than previously set. By the end of 2025, Indonesia will not import rice, corn, or salt. This step has received appreciation from various groups in society.
President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto said that food self-sufficiency is the key to national resilience and ensures that Indonesia remains safe from the threat of food shortages and geopolitical instability.
Indonesia must be self-sufficient in food so that it does not depend on food sources from other countries when a crisis occurs. When a crisis occurs, many countries are reluctant to export food so that they will have difficulty if they depend on food sources from abroad.
President Prabowo also emphasized that the government budget will be directed to strengthening strategic sectors, including labor absorption, increasing productivity, and accelerating food self-sufficiency.
Several palm oil industries that are members of the Indonesian Palm Oil Entrepreneurs Association (Gapki) have expressed their support for President Prabowo Subianto’s efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency. They are involved in the simultaneous corn planting program throughout Indonesia.
Vice President of Investor Relations and Public Affairs of PT Astra Agro Lestasi Tbk (AALI), Fenny Sofyan, said that the company is carrying out simultaneous corn planting on the land of Astra Agro Group subsidiaries spread across Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. This initiative is a real manifestation of Astra Agro’s commitment to supporting government programs.
This simultaneous grand planting activity involves communities that live and settle within the company, namely employees and their families or referred to as paguyuban.
Vice President of Partnership Management Astra Agro, Jonet Budiarto said that this simultaneous corn planting program is in line with the government’s target to make Indonesia a world food barn by 2045, with a focus on increasing the production of various strategic food commodities. Corn is one of the superior crops.
The potential of corn commodities in contributing to food security and the national economy is very large. Not just a food ingredient, corn is known as an important raw material for various downstream industries, such as animal feed, flour, and other processed foods.
Corn is an important source of raw materials for 32 industrial sectors, which places corn as the commodity with the third highest added value in the agricultural sector, after rice and palm oil. As a company engaged in the agribusiness sector, the target of food self-sufficiency in the form of corn planting is very close to Astra Agro’s daily life.
To support the success of the program, the planting process is carried out systematically, starting from land preparation, planting, to post-planting management. Each stage is designed to ensure the optimization of production results and the sustainability of the ecosystem around the land.
In addition to the approval obtained from the local Agriculture and Food Service, a risk assessment is also carried out by the company’s internal team. This step is taken to ensure that the food self-sufficiency program is not only oriented towards productivity but also continues to pay attention to aspects of environmental sustainability.
On the other hand, Deputy Minister of Agriculture (Wamentan) Sudaryono said that the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) has a strategy, both for intensification and extensification to realize the food self-sufficiency program.
Not only that, law enforcement officers are also involved in achieving food self-sufficiency. In this case, the TNI is involved in guarding rice and the Polri is involved in assisting resilience in the corn sector and guarding yard food crops.
The Polri has also built a digital infrastructure by launching the Polri Task Force application in the form of a Food Security Supporting Helpdesk. The purpose of the application is for the efficiency and effectiveness of cross-Ministry/Institution collaboration in making food self-sufficiency a success. The use of helpdesks in each region will be the coordination center for solving problems in the field and ensuring that the process runs smoothly. All obstacles that arise are expected to be handled tactically, effectively and efficiently, so that corn planting runs smoothly and all targets of the government’s food security program can be achieved from land data collection, submitting assistance, supervising aid distribution to supervising harvest results.
Specifically for corn, this year there is a simultaneous corn planting program in 2025 which will be carried out on plantation and dry land spread across various regions in Indonesia with a total planting target of 1.7 million hectares. Through this program, the government expects an additional corn production of 4 million tons, which will increase national production by 25% compared to current conditions.
The community willIndonesian farmers have high hopes that the steps taken by the government can be realized. They hope that the programs designed will not only focus on increasing food production, but also pay attention to their needs to get better access to agricultural machinery, superior seeds, and training in the agricultural sector. Support in financing and marketing agricultural products is also a major concern, with the hope that their income will increase and their lives will be more prosperous.
We must be optimistic that food self-sufficiency can be achieved in a short time if all parties work together. Synergy between the government and all levels of society from the central to regional levels needs to be continuously carried out to oversee the national food self-sufficiency program. Solid collaboration between the government, farmers, and other stakeholders is the key to increasing the productivity and quality of agricultural products.
*) The author is a Contributor to the Indonesian Strategic Information Study Institute