Special Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture of Indonesia, Professor Hasil Sembiring spoke to the Vietnam News Agency in Indonesia. (Photo: VNA)

Indonesia’s orientation in agricultural development creates many cooperation potentials with Vietnam. This is the assessment of Special Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture of Indonesia, Professor Hasil Sembiring on boosting agricultural production said at an international media discussion in Jakarta on August 10.

According to the VNA correspondent in Jakarta, speaking at the discussion themed “Indonesia’s food security: Autonomy and global supply chain”, Professor Hasil Sembiring said that Vietnam and Indonesia had exchanges on plants and agricultural production experience.

He evaluated that Vietnam had much experience that Indonesia could learn from, particularly the programme on developing 1 million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice in the Mekong Delta, striving to increase productivity while reducing environmental impacts.

Professor Hasil also noted that the large-scale mechanisation rice production model in the south of Vietnam was a valuable lesson for Indonesia to reduce costs and improve competitiveness.

According to him, Indonesia’s orientation in agricultural development creates many cooperation potentials with Vietnam including mechanisation, short-duration rice, water management, digital agriculture, post-harvest technology, and agricultural processing.

Hasil said that Indonesia is implementing a range of measures to strengthen food security and meet the needs of a large population country, which is growing by around 2.5 million people each year.

He stated that Indonesia is transforming the agriculture industry to 4 main directions, including reforming policies and production inputs, improving productivity and ensuring water security; developing human resources; increasing the added value of agricultural products.

Indonesia introduced a strategy of rapidly increasing domestic production of commodities in which it has comparative advantages and the potential for sustainable development, thereby participating more deeply in global supply chains. At the same time, Indonesia will balance imports of products for which domestic supply remains insufficient.

The import policy is designed to address seasonal shortages, stabilise prices and secure raw material supplies without undermining incentives for domestic production.

According to Professor Hasil, Indonesia also identifies long-term food security as closely linked to stronger climate change resilience.

Measures implemented include improving irrigation water control, making better use of climate information and early warning systems, developing drought-resistant varieties, increasing fertiliser efficiency, reducing post-harvest losses, and expanding precision and smart agriculture.

Beyond rice, Indonesia is seeking to diversify its food sources through corn, cassava, sago, sorghum, fruit and vegetables, livestock, and fisheries to reduce dependence on a single commodity.

With its synchronous food security strategy, Indonesia is calling for international cooperation in five areas, including crop varieties; water and renewable energy management; machinery and technology; preservation, processing, and traceability; and financing and risk-sharing instruments for smallholder farmers and young agribusinesses.