According to Soeparno, the increase in rice reserves is proof of President Prabowo Subianto's seriousness regarding realizing national food sovereignty.
"President Prabowo's commitment has been immediately proven with quick wins from the Coordinating Ministry for Food, with the highest rice stock, which increased by 1.8 million tons in four months to reach 3.5 million tons," he said in a statement issued here on Monday.
The achievement will support the national rice production for the 2025 harvest period, which is projected to reach 18.76 million tons.
Soeparno said that the achievement is the result of successful coordination carried out by Coordinating Minister for Food, Zulkifli Hasan.
"President Prabowo's trust in Zulkifli Hasan resulted in strategic coordination across ministries to realize the food sovereignty vision," he expounded.
The MPR deputy speaker emphasized that food security is an important foundation for the future of the nation.
To this end, he expressed full support for the government's steps to realize the target of food self-sufficiency gradually and measurably.
At a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman highlighted that the current rice stocks exceed the level recorded during the food self-sufficiency era in 1984, when the government held 2,402,899 tons of rice reserves.
At that time, Indonesia's population was only about 100 million. In contrast, the country's current population has crossed 280 million.
The minister also highlighted that in May last year, the national rice stock was pegged at just 1,467,626 tons.
He attributed the new record to President Prabowo Subianto's strong support for optimizing agricultural areas, intensifying water pumping across Java Island, and rehabilitating irrigation systems outside Java.
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Translator: Narda Margaretha, Raka Adji
Editor: Primayanti
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