Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia is steadily transforming from a country focused on ensuring food security into one with the capacity to export agricultural products and farming inputs, President Prabowo Subianto said at the 17th National Congress of Farmers and Fishermen held on June 24 in Gorontalo, Sulawesi Island.
The President noted that rising agricultural output and growing surpluses are creating significant opportunities for Indonesia to expand exports of agricultural commodities and inputs, marking a new phase in the country's agricultural development.
He stressed that the abundance of rice and corn reflects Indonesia’s growing capacity to achieve food self-sufficiency, one of his administration’s key priorities. Prabowo further assured the people that Indonesia is now capable of independently meeting its need for certain strategic food commodities, notably rice and corn.
According to Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, of the 12 strategic food commodities, Indonesia has achieved self-sufficiency and even exports for eight of them. Currently, only three food commodities still require foreign supplies to meet national needs, namely garlic, beef, and soybeans.
The total shortfall for these three food commodities, which are not yet self-sufficient, amounts to approximately 3.5 million tonnes. Meanwhile, domestic agricultural production has now reached a total output of 73 million tonnes.
However, President Prabowo Subianto stressed that exports would only be expanded after safeguarding the interests of domestic farmers through fair procurement prices, ensuring producers remain profitable and retain incentives to sustain production./.
