Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto has expressed optimism that Indonesia would become a food supplier for the world and assist countries experiencing drought and food crises.

"We will be able to become a solution for the problems of many countries that are hit by hunger and drought," he said during a corn harvest event in Bengkayang district, West Kalimantan, on Thursday, as seen in a video uploaded on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel.

He noted that national corn production increased 48 percent in the first quarter of 2025, with the yield increasing from 4 tons of corn per hectare to 6–8 tons per hectare.

According to Prabowo, Indonesia will achieve self-sufficiency in corn sooner than the target due to the use of good-quality seeds and organic fertilizers.

"For the corn self-sufficiency goal, maybe it will be achieved in less than 2–3 years, maybe in 1 year, we can achieve corn self-sufficiency," he said.

He added that the increase in production would not only support food self-sufficiency but also boost the income of farmers.

The President is seeking to enable farmers, as food producers, to have a better quality of life by farming with modern agricultural equipment and machinery, quality seeds, fertilizers, and biofertilizers.

Simultaneous corn harvests nationwide in the second quarter of 2025 are projected to total around 1.78 million to 2.54 million tons.

At the corn harvest event in Bengkayang district, the President stated that besides corn self-sufficiency, Indonesia is targeting to stop rice imports from 2026.

He informed that in 2024, Indonesia still had to import around 500 thousand tons of corn.

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Translator: Mentari D, Fathur R, Raka A
Editor: Primayanti
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