Food Sovereignty Far From Reality, Djarot: PDIP Refuses Imports!

PDIP Elite at the PDIP DPP Party School, Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, Friday, February 3. (Tsa Tsia-VOI)

JAKARTA - The PDI Perjuangan (PDIP) firmly rejects the food import policy. Any party that supports this effort must be stopped because Indonesia must have food sovereignty.

"PDIP rejects imports! This is our ideological struggle for how we can build sovereignty. This is an ideological mandate," said PDIP DPP chairman Djarot Saiful Hidayat at the PDIP DPP Party School, Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, Friday, February 3.

It's just that, Djarot said, food sovereignty is far from reality. One of the proofs is that imports of soybean commodities in the country are still high.

"Our highest import in food is wheat. We still import soybeans. We also import soybeans, rice, peanuts, corn, and sweet potatoes," he said.

Quoting the statement from the Secretary General of the PDIP, Hasto Kristiyanto, said Djarot, this incident was caused by the fact that the party prefers to import food commodities. So, this should be stopped immediately so that Indonesia can be self-sufficient in food.

"There are parties that want us to continue importing. We have to stop this," said the former Governor of DKI Jakarta.

"We must really be able to produce in the food sector, we must really be sovereign in the food sector," continued Djarot.

Meanwhile, rice seed breeder Mari Sejahterakan Petani (MSP) Surono Danu said he was proud of PDIP. This is because he considers this party to be concerned about efforts to be self-sufficient in food by trying to present the best food seeds.

"I am proud that PDIP has seeds from long beans, bananas, cassava," said Surono at the event which was held at the PDIP DPP Party School.

In fact, to support this effort, Surono helped PDIP cultivate various seeds including soybeans. "And here are soybeans, and not just soybeans that are grown submerged in water," he said.

Surono even admitted that he was inspired by PDIP Chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri when he helped the political party with the bull symbol to glorify soybean seeds. Especially, when creating superior varieties of soybeans that remain fertile even though they have been trampled.

"I tried to transfer Mrs. Megawati's character to the plant that I was researching based on her request that although being trampled it doesn't die," he concluded.