Jakarta – The Agriculture Ministry ensures the free school lunch program under president-elect Prabowo Subianto will utilize locally sourced produce.

Mulyono, head of the ministry's food crop processing group, said on Tuesday that it aimed to increase food production next year to accommodate the increased consumption from the flagship program.

"Everything obviously must be met domestically," he said during a discussion in Jakarta, as quoted from Kumparan.

The ministry aims to produce 56.03 million tonnes of paddy and 38 million tonnes of corn next year.

Other crops that will receive the ministry's attention include cassava and sweet potatoes, of which it targets to produce 28.7 million tonnes and 1.57 million tonnes, respectively.

Food production has been declining since at least last year. Rice output was estimated to have declined to 31.1 million tonnes last year, a 1.39 percent drop compared with the previous year.

Rice production in the first four months of this year was estimated to have also dropped by 17 percent to 10.71 million tonnes compared with the same period last year.

The government has been relying on imports to close the gaps in local production with an import of over 3 million tonnes of rice last year and another of between 3.6 million and 5 million tonnes this year.

This also applies to other commodities like corn, sugar and onion, which the country has also been struggling to increase production.

The planned program would also include milk, as Indonesia also relies on imported dairy products to meet domestic demand.

Experts have urged the government to improve farmers' welfare by maintaining a proper price at the farm-gate level. Failing to do so could lead to a further decline in food production, which could pose risks to the free lunch program and potentially increased the country's reliance on imports.

The free meal program is expected to cost around Rp 450 trillion (US$27.82 billion) every year, but the government would only earmark Rp 71 trillion in the proposed 2025 budget, which is currently under deliberation between the Finance Ministry and the House of Representatives.

The government and Prabowo's transition team have agreed that the program will be carried out in stages.

Some analysts have warned Prabowo's free meals for 82.9 million children is a high-cost program and could undermine Indonesia's track record of fiscal discipline.

Critics of the program have questioned how the next administration could increase revenue in such a short period of time to fund campaign promises and policies to be implemented by president-elect Prabowo.

Source: https://asianews.network/agriculture-ministry-vows-prabowos-free-meal-program-to-use-local-produce