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The late President Soekarno once said, “Food matters are the life and death of a nation."

He conveyed this at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Faculty of Agriculture building at the University of Indonesia, which later became the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), 72 years ago.

This effort, laid in Bogor, West Java, has now been realized through the achievement of sustainable self-sufficiency, repeating the historic tradition of 1984 and 2019.

Held in Kertamukti Village, Karawang District, West Java, on January 7, 2026, President Prabowo Subianto announced that national rice production by December 2025 reached 34.71 million tons, a surplus of approximately 4 million tons compared to national demand.

This figure is nearly identical to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s projected rice production in Indonesia of 35.6 million tons.

Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ranks Indonesia as one of the countries with the highest rice production growth in Southeast Asia, surpassing Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia.

In line with this achievement, Indonesia did not import rice for consumption or feed corn through 2025.

Minister of Agriculture and Head of the National Food Agency, Andi Amran Sulaiman, stated that Indonesia's rice reserves this year surpass the rice self-sufficiency achieved during the Soeharto era, which was around 2 million tons in 1984.

Meanwhile, the current national rice production capacity has surpassed the 31.3 million tons achieved during President Joko Widodo's era in 2019, the same as in 2020 and 2021.

President Prabowo, in his speech in Karawang, acknowledged that the achievement of food self-sufficiency during his administration this year has progressed significantly beyond the initial target.

"I am confident that in four to five years at the latest, we will achieve food self-sufficiency. In fact, we are ready to become the world's food barn," he remarked during his presidential inauguration speech.

Food self-sufficiency has also been designated as one of the main pillars of the government's Asta Cita program, alongside the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program, biofuel-based energy security, and industrial downstreaming.

Acceleration Strategy

Prabowo also officially announced a significant increase in the food security budget to support the acceleration of national self-sufficiency.

In the 2025 fiscal year, the total allocation disbursed reached Rp139.4 trillion (US$8 billion), realized through optimal absorption by the end of the year to strengthen rice and corn production and ensure the equitable distribution of subsidized fertilizer.

For 2026, the budget reached Rp210.4 trillion (US$12 billion), marking a 45.5 percent increase.

This budget ceiling will focus on strengthening the agricultural production sector with Rp114.1 trillion (US$6.5 billion) and a program to stabilize food prices at the consumer level to ensure affordability for the wider community.

This commitment will be carried out in several steps, ranging from improving irrigation networks, agricultural intensification to increase productivity and efficiency through modernizing equipment, and increasing planting frequency.

Meanwhile, extensification efforts are also being intensified through a program to create new rice fields in Merauke, Kalimantan, and South Sumatra, which is now contributing to the achievement of food self-sufficiency this year.

At the farmer level, improvements in the management of subsidized fertilizer have been a significant breakthrough where distribution regulations have been simplified, fertilizer quantities have been doubled, and prices have been reduced by 20 percent, ensuring fertilizer reaches its intended target more quickly and effectively.

The government also raised the Government Purchase Price (HPP) for unhusked rice from Rp5,500 (US$0.32) to Rp6,500 (US$0.37) per kilogram unconditionally, the highest in history. This policy eliminates the opportunity for middlemen to suppress prices.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced that the Farmer Exchange Rate (NTP) in December 2025 was at 125.35, the highest monthly index since at least 2019 to 2024, when it ranged from 100.90 to 119.62.

The World's Food Barn

Government rice reserves at the National Logistics Agency (Bulog), which now stands at 4 million tons, are the highest in Indonesian history.

These robust reserves allow the government to maintain market price stability while simultaneously curbing the movement of food mafias.

At the same time, the agricultural sector demonstrated impressive economic performance. By August 2025, agricultural exports reached Rp507.78 trillion (US$298 billion), a surge of more than 42 percent.

In the first quarter of 2025, the agricultural sector grew by 10.52 percent and became the largest contributor to national economic growth.

Indonesia has not only achieved domestic food sovereignty but is also starting to extend support internationally. In a show of humanitarian solidarity, 10,000 tons of rice were sent to Palestine.

"This year, Indonesia recorded the highest rice production and the highest price of unhusked rice in our history. We are now self-sufficient in rice and have begun exporting to other countries, including providing rice for Palestine," Prabowo spoke at the United Nations session last year.

The government is now eyeing agricultural downstreaming, where raw materials are now being encouraged to be processed domestically, potentially creating jobs for around 8.6 million workers.

The livestock and plantation industries are also being directed to expand evenly outside Java so that all major Indonesian islands are self-sufficient in food and protein.

Investment is increasing, and partnerships are being reinforced to ensure the sector is no longer dominated by just a few companies.

In one year of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming's leadership, Indonesian agriculture has seen major changes. National agriculture today benefits the Indonesian people while also contributing significantly to global food security.

Source : antaranews