Army, Agriculture Ministry sign MoU to Create Food Security

Jakarta (Antara) - The Indonesian Army (TNI AD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Agriculture in a bid to promote domestic food security. "The cooperation agreement is a manifestation of synergy to implement the development programs of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Army to promote the agriculture sector. By doing so, we will ensure food security," Army Chief of Staff General Budiman remarked during a press conference here on Wednesday. The MoU, which is a follow-up to a cooperation agreement signed in 2012, covers cooperation between the Army and eight directorate generals and bodies at the ministry. Budiman laid emphasis on cooperation as a measure to achieve food security in favor of the state sovereignty. "Water, food, and energy will play a very strategic and influential role in our efforts to keep the state sovereignty intact. Hence, we view this activity with great importance," he emphasized. Earlier, in 2012, the Army and the Ministry of Agriculture signed a cooperation agreement to implement an agricultural development program. The cooperation was realized in November 2012, through the activity dubbed "the Army Supports Food Security (TMKP)." Budiman claimed that the activity was quite successful with regard to the territorial command unit, management of the Army's idle land, promotion of the people's living standards, and integration of the military and the people in support of territorial resilience. "Thousands of hectares of idle land have been cultivated by the farmers and the Army's cooperatives, which has improved their standard of living," he added. (*)