Deputy Minister: Rp14 Trillion Irrigation Revitalisation to Support Food Self-Sufficiency

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono announced the government has allocated Rp14 trillion in 2026 to revitalise irrigation networks, a move designed to increase the cropping index, enhance productivity, and realise sustainable food self-sufficiency. The government disbursed approximately Rp12 trillion in 2025 and will increase the budget to Rp14 trillion in 2026 as part of an irrigation network revitalisation programme continuing until 2029. “In 2026, the allocated budget is Rp14 trillion, and it will be continued until 2029. It is hoped that by the end of 2029, all irrigation systems requiring repair will have been fixed,” Sudaryono stated in Jakarta on Wednesday. He said the accelerated revitalisation responds to farmers’ aspirations, as they still face water supply constraints due to thousands of hectares of land with suboptimal irrigation networks. He expects all irrigation networks needing repair to be completed gradually, ensuring all supporting agricultural infrastructure functions optimally by the end of 2029. According to him, irrigation improvements will raise the cropping index, allowing farmers to plant more than once a year and ultimately boosting their welfare. “We hope that with irrigation, people can plant even during the dry season. Those who previously planted once can now plant twice, and those who planted twice can plant three times,” he said. “This not only increases national productivity but also improves farmers’ welfare, because they can harvest more than once.” He emphasised the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the foundation of national food self-sufficiency through irrigation improvements, provision of quality seeds, and modernisation of agricultural machinery. This commitment was conveyed during a dialogue with farmers and fishermen at the XVII National Farmers and Fishermen Week in Gorontalo on Tuesday. During the meeting, Sudaryono, familiarly known as Mas Dar, said Indonesia’s success in halting imports of strategic food commodities such as rice, maize, and sugar should be welcomed. However, the government is not stopping at these achievements and continues to make improvements to ensure food self-sufficiency becomes more robust and sustainable. “No more imports of food, no more imports of rice, no more imports of maize, no more imports of sugar. We are grateful for this, while we gradually fix what needs to be fixed,” he said. He added the government continues to ensure the availability of quality seeds, strengthen production facilities, and improve irrigation networks so that agricultural development is more evenly distributed across all regions of Indonesia. “For example, how we build good agriculture, as good as agriculture in other places, in Papua. Building agriculture in Papua as good as in other provinces. We improve irrigation, we ensure the availability of good quality seeds, and so on,” he explained. He stressed President Prabowo Subianto has a strong commitment to making food self-sufficiency a part of the nation’s resilience and sovereignty.