Tasked with planting soybeans, the Indonesian Navy makes use of idle and productive lands owned by its units

JAKARTA — The Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) is using idle and productive land owned by the service to carry out a new task: soybean cultivation. TNI AL Chief of Public Information, First Admiral Tunggul, said the programme is part of the national food-security effort. ‘In the field, implementation focuses on maximising the use of idle land or productive land owned by the TNI AL,’ he said on Saturday, 23 May 2026. The Navy coordinates with the Ministry of Agriculture and regional agricultural offices in implementing the programme. The soybean planting programme is conducted through territorial units of the Navy, such as the Maritime Region Command (Kodamar), Navy bases (Lanal), and Marine Corps units under the coordination of the Navy’s Territorial Center (Pusteral). Tunggul noted that national harvest data are still being compiled. ‘But as a snapshot, on some Navy lands such as Lampung, which harvested in October 2025 on an area of 30 hectares, soybean yields reached about 4 tonnes per hectare,’ he said. ‘Meanwhile last week in Nganjuk, East Java, with an area of 400 hectares, the estimated yield was 1.5 to 2 tonnes per hectare,’ he added. The programme also involves farmer groups and local communities. Previously reported, Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said soldiers in the Territorial Development Battalion now have a new task. He instructed the Army to cultivate rice and corn, while the Navy would produce soybeans. ‘We have already assigned tasks: for the Army, agriculture, corn, and rice, in addition to other field crops; for the Navy, soybeans,’ said Sjafrie at a meeting of Commission I of the DPR in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday, 19 May 2026. He explained why soybeans must be produced with Navy assistance. According to a report he received, the soybeans imported are used for livestock feed abroad. ‘So, imagine, we import soybeans for animal feed that is for people outside. Now, with two harvests, the Navy has soybean seed quality that is no longer intended for animal feed,’ he said.