Prabowo Shares Connection with Farmers Rooted in Military Experience
President Prabowo Subianto stated that he has maintained a close connection with farmers since his career as a soldier. He noted that, as a military commander, his considerations extended far beyond ammunition.
According to Prabowo, soldiers must first check rice stocks before embarking on combat operations. He explained that without adequate rice supplies, troops would be unable to fight. “Why am I close to farmers? Because I was a combat unit commander. When we were about to go on combat operations, we didn’t just check bullets. We checked if there was rice. If there was rice, we calculated how many days it would last,” he said during the Great Corn Harvest and the Launching of 166 Polri SPPG in Tuban Regency, East Java.
He continued, “We check bullets, but we first check if there is rice. If there is rice, we calculate how many days it will last. If the rice lasts for five days, we operate for five days. If it lasts for 14 days, we operate for 14 days. Imagine, brothers, if there is no rice. Without rice, it is difficult for soldiers to operate.”
Consequently, he emphasised that food supplies are paramount. He recounted how, during the war of independence, the people provided food to the Indonesian military. Therefore, he views food availability as a matter of life and death. “Farmers fed the TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces). And the members of the TNI and Polri are the children of farmers. That is why I understand the importance of food. I always say that food is a matter of life and death for a nation,” he asserted.
Prabowo also stated that he does not subscribe to the view that agricultural commodities are more efficient if imported. He argued that such a perspective is fundamentally flawed because food security is a matter of survival. “I do not follow the schools of thought suggesting that rice or maize is more efficient if we import it. National survival is not just about which is cheaper, but about whether it exists. History, destiny, and reality have proven that because we secured our food supply first, we are relatively safer and more prepared to face any external global crises,” he explained.