Minister Of Agriculture Amran Calls State Stability Depending On Food Security

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman emphasized that food security is the main foundation in building national security.

He conveyed this when giving a public lecture to the participants of the Education for the Establishment of State Leadership (P3N) of the XXV Force and Strategic Knowledge Education (P4N) of the LXVIII Force at the Indonesian National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas), Thursday, July 24.

"Food security is the heart of national security. If food is disrupted, the stability of the country will also be disrupted," Amran said in his statement.

According to him, food issues not only concern the economic aspect, but also involve the survival of the nation. In fact, Amran said, mistakes in reading food problems can have a bigger impact than corruption cases.

"As Bung Karno said, the life and death of the nation is determined by food. The wrong analysis of food can have a more fatal impact than corruption," he said.

Amran also explained concrete steps by President Prabowo Subianto's administration in strengthening the national agricultural sector, one of which is through the issuance of seven strategic Presidential Regulations (Perpres) that regulate subsidized fertilizers, grain prices, and irrigation systems.

"The distribution of fertilizers is now much simpler and more efficient. The bureaucratic chain, which used to make it difficult for farmers, has now been cut so that fertilizers can directly reach the hands of farmers," he said.

He added that the series of policies had yielded tangible results, with national rice production now setting a record high in Indonesian history.

On that occasion, the Minister of Agriculture also invited Lemhannas participants who are candidates for national leadership to participate in strengthening Indonesia's food security as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Lemhannas RI, Ace Hasan Syadzily, appreciated the achievements of the agricultural sector under the leadership of Amran. He considered the progress of this sector to be a new source of optimism in realizing Indonesia's ideals as a world food barn.

According to him, the agricultural sector, which was often underestimated, now shows a significant contribution to the national economy, thanks to the support of technology and targeted policies.

"In the past, this sector was considered to have had a small contribution to GDP because of the lack of technology. Now we see agriculture starting to rise to become a strategic advantage for the nation," he said.