The vice president conveyed this message during a discussion with sugarcane farmers in the Jolondoro sugarcane plantation area, Glenmore Sub-district, Banyuwangi, East Java, on Monday.
"We want it (sugar production) to be as successful as rice. This is the government's commitment, as food self-sufficiency is a focus of President Prabowo Subianto," he remarked.
On the same occasion, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman stated that his ministry is currently accelerating improvement in the sugar industry from upstream to downstream, covering sugarcane cuttings and planting systems, among others.
He noted that so far, sugar production in Indonesia has shown promising results, with production in the first quarter of 2025 reaching around 50 percent of the target.
To achieve the sugar self-sufficiency target, the government will prioritize sugarcane as a key crop for plantation land.
"For plantation, we want to focus on sugarcane. Hopefully, we can achieve self-sufficiency faster for white sugar," the minister remarked.
Earlier, Minister Sulaiman had called for achieving national sugar self-sufficiency within three years through deregulation, intensification of sugarcane production, and expansion of sugarcane fields.
During a meeting with state-run plantation company PTPN in Surabaya, East Java, on June 11, 2025, he noted that one of the core problems impeding productivity is the condition of sugarcane fields, with 86 percent being damaged or suboptimal.
According to the minister, President Prabowo Subianto has approved a budget of around Rp30 trillion (approximately US$1.8 billion) to Rp40 trillion (approximately US$2.4 billion) to support the sugar sufficiency plan.
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Translator: Novi Husdinariyanto, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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