Vice President Gibran Plants Simultaneous Corn In Tangerang, Encourages National Food Security

Vice President (Wapres) of the Republic of Indonesia, Gibran Rakabuming while attending a simultaneous corn planting activity in the Bantar Panjang Village area, Tigaraksa District, Tangerang Regency, Banten, on Wednesday. ANTARA/Azmi Samsul M

JAKARTA - Vice President (Vice President) Gibran Rakabuming Raka carried out simultaneous corn planting activities in Bantar Panjang Village, Tigaraksa District, Tangerang Regency, Banten, Wednesday, October 8.

Vice President Gibran was welcomed by Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman, Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Deputy Chief of Police Komjen Pol Dedi Prasetyo, Banten Police Chief Inspector General Pol Hengki, Banten Governor Andra Soni, and Tangerang Regent Moch Maesyal Rasyid.

Arriving at the planting area, quoted from Antara, Gibran received a report from Polri officials and local governments regarding the progress of agricultural products, land conditions, plant varieties, and the planting method used.

Gibran then planted hybrid corn which has natural resistance to comorbidities, so that it can save production costs. Planting is carried out with the help of tractors on an area of 50 hectares as a result of cooperation between the Police and local governments.

On that occasion, the Vice President also handed over agricultural production facilities and food packages from the National Police to the surrounding community. After that, Gibran visited the agricultural processed booths, special MSME products from Tangerang Regency, and witnessed health checks and the distribution of free vitamins.

This simultaneous corn planting activity is part of the National Police program to strengthen national food security. In addition to planting, the National Police also dispatched 1,268 tons of corn to be absorbed by Perum Bulog throughout Indonesia.

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the corn planting movement aims to support domestic food independence.

"Alhamdulillah, hopefully we can survive not to import until the end of 2025," said Listyo Sigit.

According to him, throughout the 2020-2024 period, the National Police has contributed to the production of 1.3 million tons of corn. This collaboration helped Bulog optimize corn procurement of up to 82,413 tons, the highest in the last nine years.

"Our target is to help Bulog reach one million tons of corn, and the current shortage is expected to be met from the harvest in the fourth quarter," he said.