Jakarta. Indonesia is currently developing modern farming clusters across the country to boost domestic supplies and eventually become a global food barn.

Food self-sufficiency has become a key priority under President Prabowo Subianto's administration. Prabowo wants Indonesia to feed its massive population on its own without relying on imports by 2027. The government also intends to transform Indonesia from being a food importer into becoming the world's food barn or major food exporter in the future.

According to Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman, work is underway to develop modern farming clusters in provinces such as South Papua. The government will have young farmers work in these agri-zones while equipping them with agricultural technologies. The clusters will complement Indonesia's efforts to expand 3 million hectares of rice fields.

"We are developing what we call modern agricultural clusters to reach food self-sufficiency and become the world's food barn," Andi Amran said in Jakarta during an event streamed live by his ministry.

Earlier that day, the Agriculture Ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Manpower Ministry. The latter will supply the instructors needed to train young farmers in operating modern agricultural technologies. It will also help generate the necessary mechanics for the tools' maintenance.

Andi Amran claimed that over 27,000 farmers who fall within the millennial age group had signed up for the training. Millennials commonly refer to those who are born in 1981-1996. According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the term "millennial farmers" refers to those between 19 and 39 years old. Indonesia is home to almost 6.2 million millennial farmers as of the end of 2023. They represent about 21.9 percent of the nationwide farmer population. The Agriculture Ministry has distributed over 3,600 units of modern farming tools to the young farmers in the clusters.

"The Manpower Ministry has 300-500 trainers across the archipelago. We will assign them to provinces that [will be the main focus of our modern farming clusters], namely South Papua, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan,, West Kalimantan, and South Sumatra," Andi Amran said.

Rice is a staple food in Indonesia, and the country intends to entirely stop importing the grain this year. BPS data showed that Indonesia could produce almost 8.7 million tons of rice in the first three months of 2025. Domestic rice demand is projected to reach 31 million tons this year. Indonesia aims to increase its rice output to 32 million tons this year, thus giving the country a 1 million surplus. 

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