Realize Food Self-sufficiency, Commission IV DPR Proposes Printing Budget for Rice Fields to Buy Productive Agricultural Land

Member of Commission IV of the DPR, Firman Soebagyo, proposed that the budget for rice paddies be diverted to buy productive agricultural land to realize national food self-sufficiency.

This was conveyed by Firman in response to the statement of the Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) Nusron Wahid regarding the massive conversion of rice fields in Indonesia.

Firman highlighted the data from the Ministry of ATR/BPN which stated that the conversion of agricultural land reached 554,000 hectares/year. He assessed that the figure was a serious threat to national food security and sovereignty.

"After reading Nusron Wahid's statement, I have a new mindset. If the function of rice fields reaches 554 thousand hectares/year, then the concept of food self-sufficiency must be immediately evaluated," Firman told reporters, Wednesday, December 24.

Firman said that so far the policy of new rice paddies has often faced various obstacles. Starting from the availability of land, the readiness of irrigation infrastructure to the not little cost.

"As a result, the results obtained are not optimal in boosting national food production," he said.

Therefore, this senior Golkar politician proposes that the budget for the new rice paddies be diverted to buy productive agricultural land that already has technical irrigation. Later, this productive land will be managed directly by the Government.

"I have a very rational and worthy of consideration idea, namely changing the concept of the new rice paddy printing budget to be used to buy productive agricultural land that has been technically irrigated and managed by the Government," explained this member of the DPR Baleg.

Firman believes that this step can be an effective solution to increase national food production appropriately, while reducing Indonesia's dependence on imported food.

The legislator from the Central Java III constituency assessed that by buying land that is already productive, the Government does not need to go through a long process such as opening new land, irrigation development, to adjusting soil conditions.

"In this way, food production can immediately increase without waiting for a long time and without wasting the budget," said Firman.

In addition, Firman assessed that the management of agricultural land by the Government could guarantee the stability of production and the availability of national food in the long term. He said, a number of advantages of this approach include increasing national food production, budget efficiency, and more controlled and sustainable agricultural management.

"If managed by the Government, efficiency can be improved and the risk of losses can be suppressed, this is important to ensure food self-sufficiency is truly realized," he concluded.