Badanas: Government Focuses On Supporting Local Farmers

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi said that the Government is focused on providing support to local farmers as an effort to increase productivity in order to create sustainable domestic food independence.

"Party with farmers and increasing domestic food productivity are two aspects that are of concern to the Government in the context of building food independence," Arief said in his statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, July 10.

Arief conveyed this on the sidelines of attending the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Perum Bulog and PT Pupuk Indonesia as an effort to create an ideal agricultural cultivation ecosystem.

The signing of a memorandum of understanding between the President Director (Director) of Bulog Bayu Krishnamurti and the President Director of Pupuk Indonesia Rahmad Pribadi is related to optimizing agricultural productivity and purchasing crops through the Makmur (Let's Advance People's Business) program.

He appreciated the collaboration that was built between Perum Bulog and PT Pupuk Indonesia. This good collaboration will provide an integrated food ecosystem based on domestic food production.

According to Arief, Bulog is looking for rice suppliers from within the country, while Pupuk Indonesia through the Makmur program is a standby buyer.

"So, we encourage it completely because this is a form of our commitment to building food independence," he said.

The government is committed to intensifying its support for the local agricultural sector to achieve sustainable food self-sufficiency.

By prioritizing farmership and increasing productivity, he hopes that Indonesia can create a more stable and independent food system in the long term.

Meanwhile, President Director of Perum Bulog Bayu Krishnamurti said that Bulog would absorb or become a 100 percent offtaker (buyer) of the Makmur program.

Bayu stated that farmers' income is an important aspect that must receive attention in the food production chain so that with Bulog's readiness to absorb, farmers' income is maintained.

"With this understanding, Bulog is ready to become an offtaker for 100 percent of products from the Makmur program. We are very comfortable working with Pupuk Indonesia as fellow BUMN so that this collaboration is a very good thing," said Bayu.

These efforts, according to him, are in line with the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who emphasized the role of food SOEs as offtakers for agricultural products. Thus, on the one hand, keep the spirit of farmers to produce, on the other hand optimizing the role of food SOEs in stabilizing food supply and prices at the consumer level.

The Makmur program is a program initiated by the Ministry of SOEs since 2021 in the form of intensive assistance to farmers and sustainable agricultural cultivation and involving supply chains and supported by technology with the target of increasing income and welfare of farmers.

President Director of Pupuk Indonesia Rahmad Pribadi hopes that the synergy between SOEs can boost farmers' productivity and improve their welfare through the support of agricultural facilities and more profitable sales schemes.

In the memorandum of understanding, said Rahmad, it regulates the role of Pupuk Indonesia, namely in the provision of commercial agricultural input facilities such as fertilizers, pesticides, and technology assistance as well as agricultural digitization to farmers assisted by the Makmur program.

"Through this effort, Pupuk Indonesia together with Bulog can work together to support national food security. We have a bright future, not only for Pupuk Indonesia and Bulog, but for agriculture and the nation, the Republic of Indonesia," said Rahmad.