Indonesian rice reserve hits new record high of 3.5m tonnes: Ministry

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.

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