Vice President Gibran Affirms The Government's Commitment To Realizing Food Self-Sufficiency

JAKARTA - Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka reaffirmed the government's commitment to realizing food self-sufficiency and improving the welfare of farmers while attending corn rice planting activities in Aman Damai Village, Sirapit, Langkat, North Sumatra.

"The focus of the Red and White Cabinet is clear. The President's orders are clear, food self-sufficiency, farmers' welfare," said Gibran as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 24.

Gibran said to make this happen, the Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, went to the field intensively to deal with various problems faced by farmers.

The Vice President said that the government is focusing on solving a number of major challenges faced in the agricultural sector, such as resolving irrigation problems, availability of fertilizers, distribution of superior seeds, and providing agricultural mechanization tools.

The vice president asked stakeholders to work together to encourage the resolution of these challenges.

Gibran also encouraged cross-ministerial coordination to solve problems related to irrigation which is often an obstacle for farmers.

"Earlier there was a reservoir, later the irrigation will be coordinated with the Minister (Pertaniman) and the Minister of Public Works (Public Works) so that all the needs of the ladies and gentlemen here can be resolved," said Gibran.

In this activity, Gibran received various inputs from farmers, ranging from agricultural equipment needs, such as tractors and combine developers, irrigation channel improvements, to the ease of getting diesel fuel for agricultural equipment.

Gibran emphasized that the government will find the best solution to meet these needs in order to ease the work of farmers and increase their harvest.

"Well, I will ask the Minister, the Regent, and all those here to immediately resolve this problem and once again, this requires good cooperation with all stakeholders here," said Gibran.

The vice president said that if there were irrigation problems, drought, fertilizer problems, they would immediately be submitted to the relevant parties.

"The Minister (Pertani) responded very quickly, so later there will be anything he will definitely go directly to the field or order his staff to immediately resolve the existing problems," said the Vice President.