Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono conveyed this after attending a coordination meeting on corn development on Monday.
He said the additional land is necessary to meet the country’s corn demand.
The development of the new land would also help the government reduce the quantity of imports, thereby accelerating the realization of food self-sufficiency in the country.
Sudaryono explained that the development of new land for corn would not conflict with the existing upland rice quota, which his ministry seeks to fulfill, highlighting corn's resilience and adaptability, which make intercropping strategies possible.
He also stated that the ministry had preliminarily identified 1.2 million hectares of land with corn-growing potential at the meeting, with plans to conduct comprehensive follow-up studies and evaluations.
"We will identify in detail the locations of the land, the coordinate points, and the size of the effective area for planting corn," he affirmed.
Data from Statistics Indonesia shows that Indonesia's corn harvest area reached 2.49 million hectares in 2023.
On December 12, Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan stated that Indonesia will cease importing rice, sugar, corn, and table salt in 2025.
He expressed optimism that the food self-sufficiency program would be realized soon and that Indonesia could achieve food sovereignty by halting the imports of several commodities.
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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
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