Indonesia targets two-year sugarcane rejuvenation under Prabowo

During a harvest event with the Indonesian Defense Forces in Malang on Friday, President Prabowo Subianto said Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman had informed him regarding the absence of sugarcane rejuvenation efforts in Indonesia for the past 12 years. "The Minister of Agriculture reported that our current program is 100,000 hectares per year, and this will be achieved in four years. But he later assured me that we can complete it in two years," the president remarked. Prabowo said the government would continue accelerating priority programs, including efforts to achieve food and energy self-sufficiency. "We will work hard on all our efforts. The Minister of Finance reported that our economic condition remains good despite global economic uncertainty, we are still doing quite well," Prabowo noted. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia recorded 796,621 sugarcane farmers managing 520,823 hectares of harvested land as of November 2025. Specifically for sugarcane, the Indonesian Air Force is supporting sugarcane production across 236,048 hectares of land with a potential production of 18.386 million tons of sugarcane, equivalent to 1.36 million tons of sugar. The Indonesian Navy also provided assistance to 2,432 hectares of soybean fields, while the Army provided assistance to 6.26 million hectares of rice fields from January to June 2026. On that occasion, President Prabowo praised the Indonesian military and National Police for their contributions to achieving food sovereignty and emphasized that the nation's founders had instructed Indonesia to be self-sufficient. "We do not want to become a complacent nation. We will show the world that Indonesia is rising with our own strength," Prabowo said. Related news: Deputy minister taps cooperatives to boost sugarcane farmers' welfare Related news: Prabowo reviews sugar-to-bioethanol project to boost energy security Related news: Indonesia taps village cooperatives to boost sugar industry growth Translator: Prisca Triferna, Resinta Sulistiyandari Editor: M Razi Rahman Copyright © ANTARA 2026