Jakarta – Commander of the National Campaign Team (TKN) Bravo Prabowo Gibran Communication Team, Budisatrio Djiwandono, explained that the nation’s self-reliance in food will be the top priority if the pair number 2 is elected to lead Indonesia. This is absolutely necessary, because a food crisis is looming.
“The main sector targeted for self-sufficiency by Prabowo Gibran is food, water, and energy. In these sectors, we must no longer rely on imports. Especially regarding food, Mr. Prabowo has stated that food is a matter of life and death for a nation,” explained Budisatrio to reporters in Jakarta (Sunday, 13/1).
The leader of the Indonesian Parliament’s Commission IV, which oversees agriculture, food, and maritime, explained that there is currently a food deficit in Indonesia due to population growth accompanied by a decrease in land productivity. He cited the crisis that occurred in rice.
“BPS data shows that our population increases by around 3 million people every year. And this population increase is not accompanied by an increase in the cultivated area. Yet rice is consumed by almost all citizens,” he said.
Budisatrio continued by saying that this deficit cannot be covered by relying on imports from abroad.
“Learning from the incident with wheat during the Ukraine-Russia war, the supply chain was disrupted, causing the price of our wheat, which is heavily dependent on imports, to soar. We must not let this happen to rice, which is our main staple,” he said.
To address this issue, Prabowo Gibran aims to add a minimum of four million hectares of cultivated land in a program called Food Barn.
“This food barn will exist from the smallest village level by farmers, to the national level by continuing the food estate. The way to do this is by increasing planting indexes, intensification, and utilization of unused land,” said Budisatrio.
“Digital technology for agriculture will also be a priority. We will create new fields, while at the same time increasing the productivity of existing land with digital and modern tools and technology. There is no other choice, this must be done,” he continued.
In the context of the presidential election itself, Budisatrio urged that the food crisis be made a healthy discussion because it is related to the country’s future.
“Taking a stance on the food issue should be a common agreement. We actually look forward to a variety of ideas to address the food crisis from each pair of candidates. From Prabowo Gibran it is clear, we will continue the food estate and improve it into the Food Barn,” concluded Budisatrio. (SENOPATI)
