Prabowo Orders The Ministry Of Agriculture To Halt Imports Of Corn, Rice, Sugar, And Salt

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Sudaryono, announced that President Prabowo Subianto has ordered a ban on the import of rice, corn, sugar, and salt. Sudaryono stated that the Ministry of Agriculture received instructions from Prabowo to stop importing these four food commodities starting this year. "This is a target, a command from President Prabowo Subianto. We are not allowed to import rice this year, in 2025, no rice imports, no corn imports, no consumer sugar imports, and no consumer salt imports," he explained during a meeting at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Salemba, Central Jakarta, on Monday (January 20, 2025).

Sudaryono mentioned that this directive is a concrete step from the government, which includes budget adjustments and a focus on achieving food self-sufficiency. "So this is a directive, and we are making every effort, including adjusting the budget, focusing on this," he said.

He emphasized that the government's initial priority is to ensure that basic needs like rice, corn, salt, and sugar are met. Once these four food commodities are secured, the government will then shift its focus to other commodities like milk and meat. "We will start with rice and corn, and then gradually move on to whether we will expand to milk and meat," he said. Sudaryono acknowledged that currently, more milk and meat are imported than produced domestically. "Right now, we do import more than we produce, and that is part of our roadmap for self-sufficiency," he added.

Therefore, Sudaryono highlighted the importance of opening new land through the food estate program, which will be a long-term solution to meet food needs. "We have to, there must be new land opened in areas where we have more, especially in swamp regions," he stated. He believes that swamp areas have great potential because they do not require complex irrigation systems, unlike agricultural land in mountainous regions.

Tag: Ministry Of Agriculture Prabowo Subianto Sudaryono