Dancing In The World, Cleaning Up Domestically

Photo Illustration By Andry Winarko (VOI)

JAKARTA - After being inaugurated as the 8th President Prabowo Subianto emphasized in his first state speech that food security and self-sufficiency were the government's top priority.

According to him, food security is a strategic step to ensure the welfare and independence of the nation in the midst of the growing global challenges. And this is not just an omon-omon, President Prabowo proved it by 'dancing' in several countries as well as cleaning up domestically.

Prabowo is very confident that with the support of experts, Indonesia will be able to self-sufficiency in food for all its people and be ready to become a food barn from the world. The President said that this nation has great potential in terms of the agricultural sector, and can reduce dependence on imported food. The first step that needs to be taken is a national collaboration in responding to global challenges and eradicating poverty.

Global challenges that need to be anticipated include development of technology, climate change, economic instability. In addition, there are strategic issues that need to be considered in the short and long term. And as the nation's leader, President Prabowo Subianto asked all policymakers and decision makers to be involved without exception.

With this speech, President Prabowo Subianto has opened a new chapter in the Indonesian government with a big vision that focuses on food security, sustainable economy, and national resilience.

"This is the future of the nation, and we must all be involved in building it," said President Prabowo in his first state speech at the Senayan Parliament Building, Jakarta.

From this speech, people at all levels certainly have high hopes and support all the steps taken by the government in making it real. This hope also develops to increase their need for better access to agricultural machinery, superior seeds, and training in the agricultural sector.

The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, together with the Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, reviewed the Food Barn in Merauke. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

Responding to the speech, UGM Professor of Agricultural Counseling and Communication, Prof. Subejo said that achieving the target of food self-sufficiency is not easy, proper policies are needed to support government priority programs. He added that currently the agricultural sector as a supporter of food security actually faces many challenges.

Subejo said the first challenge that needs to be faced is none other than the large conversion of agricultural land into non-farm land. Not to mention coupled with the issue of climate change, the conversion of land functions is a serious threat in increasing rice production as staple food for the Indonesian people.

In addition to the above, Subejo also mentioned the second challenge, among others, the need for intensification in food production base areas, where so far the intensification of wetland is still less than 200 percent, which means that it has only been planted less than twice a year. "To answer this, good irrigation system support is needed. With this support, it can increase the chance of planting intensity by up to two times and even for certain areas where adequate water availability can be planted three times within one year." he told VOI, November 10.

The third challenge is the logistics distribution system that is not evenly distributed in every region in Indonesia. This logistics distribution system causes classic problems after harvest, where the purchase price falls when the harvest time arrives. The development of information systems for food production and distribution such as horticulture and involving multi-stakeholders needs to be recorded in detail the amount and distribution of agricultural products and their distribution.

"With the information system, product distribution opportunities are more evenly distributed so that price stability can be guaranteed," he said. In addition, according to him, it is also necessary to encourage the processing industry which is beneficial when raw products are abundant so that they can be processed and preserved and still have adequate economic value.

Rice And Management Policy

Food is the most basic need for mankind. Its availability cannot be delayed. Its fullness is one of the most human rights for every human being. Our constitution has even mandated that the state is obliged to meet these needs. And one of the foods most needed by the Indonesian people is rice from rice.

Unfortunately, the government's efforts that always routinely issue rice import policies to meet domestic food needs are considered as technical solutions and do not touch the root of the problem. This is because the agricultural production system in Indonesia is included in the category at high costs.

Subejo said it was necessary to find strategic steps, such as improvement and organization of business scale or land consolidation, agricultural mechanization, agricultural counseling and farmer education to consistently use more efficient resources.

"It can also be done by inducing more efficient innovations such as water-saving and fertilizer-saving cultivation," he explained.

Strong farmer institutions are very important because they can increase the efficiency and competitiveness of farmers. He added that product diversification also needs to be considered so that the output produced is not only raw materials, but is combined with processed products or secondary products.

"It would be even better if it was combined with services such as agro-tourism as a tertiary product, it would certainly increase the source of farmers' income in the future," he said.

Cross-Ministerial National Collaboration

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) has contributed to supporting the food self-sufficiency program launched by President Prabowo Subianto through a blue food source. Moreover, the marine and fisheries sector has great potential in the success of this target.

Director General of Strengthening the Competitiveness of Marine and Fishery Products (PDSPKP) KKP Budi Sulistiyo said that one of the sources of blue food is fish. He said this commodity is a source of protein, nutrients and other food processing raw materials. According to Budi, Indonesia has been self-sufficiency in fish. However, at this time his party is mapping how these fishery products can support food self-sufficiency programs.

The country's fish production in 2023 was recorded at 24.74 million tons, consisting of 7.77 million tons of capture fisheries and 16.97 million tons of agricultural fishery products, including seaweed. He assessed that currently his party is also working on derivative products from seaweed to produce biofertilizers as agricultural fertilizer. According to Budi, this can help the government in realizing food self-sufficiency.

"We hope that this food self-sufficiency policy will be a trigger for how to encourage the production of fertilizers from seaweed," said Budi.

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman said a significant breakthrough to achieve food self-sufficiency, through increasing domestic production and strengthening food security to meet national needs in a sustainable manner. Andi Amran emphasized the importance of concrete steps to ensure food self-sufficiency is immediately achieved.

"We don't want just a discourse. We have to move quickly and precisely so that the Indonesian people can continue to enjoy easy and affordable food access," he said as quoted by Antara on Sunday (10/11).

According to Andi Amran, Prabowo Subianto, the President wants a big leap in the agricultural sector in achieving self-sufficiency. Through various marathon meetings, the Minister of Agriculture discussed strategic details and tactical steps to strengthen local food production, ranging from strengthening the distribution system to optimizing agricultural aid programs in the regions.

One form of realization is the establishment of modern agricultural clusters as a form of transformation from traditional agriculture. This practice continues to implement food estate programs carried out in a number of parts of Indonesia, such as Merauke, Central Kalimantan, and South Sumatra.