JAKARTA - Member of Commission IV of the House of Representatives Daniel Johan responded to the statement of the Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman who targeted food self-sufficiency within the next 23 months. Daniel emphasized that the people are waiting for evidence, not just a promise.
Daniel reminded that the success of the agricultural sector is not only measured by the achievement of the Farmer's Exchange Rate (NTP) which increases on paper.
"For us, the main problem of national agriculture is not only how much rice is harvested, but how strong is the foundation of our agricultural ecosystem to sustain food security. So food self-sufficiency must be real, not just promises or political figures," said Daniel, Monday, October 13.
Daniel appreciated the increase in national rice production to 33 million tons. However, he also reminded that there are still many farmers who face the burden of high production costs due to uneven fertilizer prices, superior seeds, and subsidized diesel.
"Many agricultural areas still have difficulty getting subsidized fertilizers on time, while the retail price of non-subsidized fertilizers has increased significantly. So production costs that are not efficient are important to overcome because otherwise it will erode the competitiveness of our farmers' production," explained Daniel.
"It needs to be underlined, self-sufficiency will be meaningless if farmers continue to live in uncertainty and a thin margin of profit," continued the PKB legislator. that.
Daniel also highlighted the high dependence of the agricultural sector on imports of raw materials such as fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural equipment. According to him, food independence cannot be achieved if the supply chain of production still depends on imported materials.
"Now the government must prepare a strategy for import substitution and strengthen the domestic upstream agriculture industry so that food security really stands on its own feet," said Daniel.
The member of the Food and Agriculture Commission also assessed that extreme rainfall data and the uncertain pattern of the season this year should be of concern.
Daniel called climate change a real threat to food production stability.
The target of self-sufficiency will not be achieved without climate adaptation in the agricultural sector. For example, the construction of reservoirs, precision irrigation, and varieties of drought-resistant seeds and floods. The government often only highlights the production side, but forgets investment in irrigation systems and damaged land conservation," explained Daniel.
Daniel explained that more than 60 percent of Indonesian farmers over the age of 45, and the interest of the younger generation to enter agriculture continues to decline.
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Therefore, Daniel reminded self-sufficiency is not only about this year's harvest, but about the sustainability of the farmer generation.
"If the state is not serious about providing incentives and land access for young farmers, then in the next 10'15 years we can face an agricultural labor crisis," he concluded.
Previously, Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman was committed to pursuing President Prabowo Subianto's target of realizing food self-sufficiency in the next 2-3 months.
This was conveyed by Amran in a press conference at the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta, Thursday, October 9.
Amran said that Indonesia's total rice production this year has reached 33.1 million tons. He targets the production to reach 34 million tons by the end of the year.
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