Jakarta, Oct. 6 -- The Indonesian government is planning to utilize degraded land for food production as raw material for biofuels, eliminating the need for new land clearing for energy development.

This was conveyed by Special Envoy of the Indonesian President for International Trade and Multilateral Cooperation Mari Elka Pangestu at the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum in Jakarta on Tuesday.

She stated that Indonesia has over 12 million hectares of degraded land with the potential to support increased food and biofuel production.

According to her, the government is committed to increasing food production for biofuels without deforestation to clear new land.

"We are committed to no longer deforesting to expand food produc...