Ni Made Tasyarani, Jakarta – Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said on Sunday that the government had increased the national rice reserve to a record multiyear-high of 3.5 million tonnes during the first four months of this year, Kontan.co.id reported.

Rice is one of the most carefully monitored and regulated commodities, given that it is the country's number one staple in terms of consumption. The national stockpile enables the government to intervene through market operations to control the domestic price of rice.

The state rice reserve expanded from 1.7 million tonnes after the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) procured 1.8 million tonnes from local farmers in the January-April period.

In 2023 and 2024 as well as in 2018, the government opted to use imported rice to increase the national rice reserve.

The announcement followed a projection on Friday by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) that domestic rice production this year would reach 18.76 million tonnes in the first six months, an increase of 11.17 percent from the same period last year.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has forecast that Indonesia's rice production in 2025 will increase from 30 million to 34.6 million tonnes, making it the top rice producer in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, BPS data showed that rice production declined in 2024 to 30.62 million tonnes, dipping 1.54 percent from 31.1 million tonnes produced in 2023.

Amran added that the amount of rice procurement had surpassed the Bulog average, and that the agency would need to seek additional storage with a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes. He also said President Prabowo Subianto had instructed the immediate construction of an emergency storage facility to ensure the absorption of all locally produced rice.

Highlighting the new logistical challenge of storing the record-high rice yield, Prabowo has ordered repurposing idle land belonging to the state, military and police as temporary storage sites.

"We never imagined before that Bulog's warehouses would be full just like [it is] today, and we must look for additional warehouses," the minister said, adding that the national rice reserve could increase to around 4 million tonnes at the end of May.

Amran expressed optimism that this target could be attained quickly, and said the government would continuously seek to strengthen and monitor progress in expanding the country's rice reserve.

The increase in domestic rice production has prompted the government to plan on exporting the food commodity to countries in need, with the President authorizing exports to several countries by request.

The Agriculture Ministry has rejected a request from Malaysia however, insisting on prioritizing the national reserve.

Source: https://asianews.network/indonesian-rice-reserve-hits-new-record-high-of-3-5m-tonnes-ministry