Government Encourages Transformation For Corn Industry

The government has committed to taking measures to encourage the nation’s corn industry, which has proved to secure the supply for domestic needs through intensification and extensification programs. This encouragement also came from Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto. He expressed support for the transformation of the corn industry, by encouraging innovation and the use of appropriate agricultural technology for building national food security.

“Based on USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) data for 2022, Indonesia’s corn production is 34.4 million tons, and we can be proud that in the past three years, there has been no need to import corn for animal feed,” Hartarto said in a statement issued in Jakarta (06/10/2022).

Hartarto explained that the government has made efforts to diversify food to strengthen the basis of food security by increasing the production of other commodities, such as soybeans, cassava, sorghum, and so on. The next step taken by the government is promoting efficiency at all levels of the corn supply chain. Starting from the harvest process, post-harvest handling, storage, to transportation and distribution through the application of appropriate agricultural innovations and technologies.

Reported by en.antaranews.com, the government also encourages the use of superior seeds from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to increase the productivity of food commodities, especially rice and corn, so that they can be produced in a fairly short time. This will give a high potential for downstream in the corn processing industry, such as corn starch, corn vermicelli, corn grits, corn flour, sweeteners, and snacks. Adjustments can also be made according to the specifications of corn raw materials for domestic production and industrial needs.

“We should also be grateful because the needs of the food and beverage industry for the supply of raw materials and auxiliary materials are more secure with the implementation of the Commodity Balance policy,” he said. Hartanto also added that he hopes the corn processing industry will expand in a number of areas.