Indonesian Deputy Coordinating Minister for Food Delivers Public Lecture at Riau University

Pekanbaru (ANTARA) - Deputy Coordinating Minister for Food of the Republic of Indonesia, Hanif Fausol Nurofiq, delivered a public lecture at the Binawidya Campus of Riau University with the theme “Government Priority Policies in the Food Sector”. Hanif conveyed that there are seven instructions from President Prabowo Subianto to the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs, namely accelerating food self-sufficiency in agriculture, developing food, energy, and water self-sufficiency zones, improving irrigation infrastructure, operating Kopdes Merah Putih, stabilising food prices and stocks, absorbing farmers’ production results, and diversifying local foods. “This is carried out to realise Asta Cita towards Golden Indonesia 2045 and to encourage national independence with national food, energy, and water self-sufficiency through accelerating the development of national food, energy, and water self-sufficiency zones,” Hanif said in Pekanbaru on Thursday. Therefore, he hopes that the students present can produce applied food research. Especially in the development of superior seeds, agricultural technology, and downstreaming of local products. “I am confident that the creativity of the nation’s children is abundant and diverse, so through this public lecture and the lessons learned in the course, the students will be able to create a digital legacy that supports food security,” he hoped. Meanwhile, Assistant I of the Riau Provincial Secretariat, Zulkifli Syukur, hopes that students in Riau can design or implement appropriate technology. Such as “urban farming”, water-saving seed houses, or agricultural digitalisation (smart farming) to address land constraints. “Developing innovations in processing agricultural products such as ‘nata de coco’, coconut processing to increase the added value of local commodities. We also hope that these students can understand that food self-sufficiency (rice, corn, sugar) is the key to national sovereignty and national honour,” he said.