50,000 Participants Attend National Farmers and Fishers Week 2026 in Gorontalo

RRI.CO.ID, Gorontalo - About 50,000 participants attended the main event of the 17th National Farmers and Fishers Week 2026 in Gorontalo Regency, Sulawesi's Gorontalo province, on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. President Prabowo Subianto, personally attended the event, praising the government's recent claim of record-breaking food self-sufficiency.

As quoted by Indonesia's Presidential Secretariat, the event, located in Sport Center Limboto, brought together farmers and fishers from across Indonesia and showcased various innovations to support food self-sufficiency. This was reflected in its theme, "Technological Transformation in Supporting National Food Self-Sufficiency".

It was held jointly by the National Outstanding Farmers and Fishermen Association (KTNA) and the Indonesian Farmers' Harmony Association (HKTI), the unions of farmers and fishers in the country. Prabowo was previously appointed as the chairperson of HKTI from 2004 to 2009.

In his remarks, he claimed that Indonesia has achieved many accomplishments during his administration, including the highest level of rice and corn production in the country's history. "We produce food: rice, corn, and nearly all of our food commodities. And our rice and corn production is the highest since our country was founded. And this is the result of the hard work of all of you," he said.

Data from Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture showed that government rice reserves had reached more than 5 million tons as of April 2026, the highest level in Indonesia's history. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that Indonesia is the fourth largest rice-producing country, with about 38 million tonnes.

President Prabowo thanked everyone who helped achieve rice and corn self-sufficiency, including the military and police. The Indonesian Military (TNI), as well as the Indonesian National Police (Polri), have long been involved in programs to help improve food security, although these are controversial due to their widened role in civilian affairs.

"Only in Indonesia do the police take care of agriculture. Perhaps, only in Indonesia are soldiers often in the rice fields. Only in Indonesia does the Navy plant soybeans. Only in Indonesia does the Air Force plant sugar cane," Prabowo said.

"But this is strategic, this is why Indonesia will rise greatly, ladies and gentlemen. We will rise to become a great nation," he said.

Prabowo later inspected the rice cultivation technology called the Modern Agriculture with Model Advanced System (PM-AAS) nearby. Developed by the Ministry of Agriculture, the technology combines dense planting, mechanization, and precise water and fertilizer management to increase rice productivity.

"I think it won't be long before we become the world's rice granary. We can help many countries. But the key is for now, we're grateful, and we're protecting it," he said at the inspection site.