President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has ordered his aides to ensure rice stock adequacy to meet national demand until the next two years before they decided to export the commodity.
Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo quoted the president’s order here on Sunday after Jokowi received an award from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for the country’s success in achieving rice self-sufficiency and its food system resilience.
“IRRI said that Indonesia should export (rice), but export high-quality rice. However, the president ordered to first make sure the national stock are available for national needs, then we can think about exporting,” Limpo said.
The minister noted that exports would only be made after the national rice demands could be met, especially with the threat of global food crisis.
The national rice consumption is expected to reach 30.03 million tons per year, according to the Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
According to Limpo, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), and the National Food Agency must ensure that rice stocks are safe before they decided to export rice.
“We have to have stock for up to two years which we consider it safe,” he said.
President Jokowi in his remarks after receiving the award at the Merdeka Palace on Sunday said that national rice stock until April 2022 has reached 10.2 million tons, revealing that Indonesia has a good food resilience system.
“Our stock (rice) in the field was at its highest level in April 2022 end at 10.2 million tons. When one asks you, where is the rice. It’s in the hand of the community, farmers, restaurants as well as Bulog and several food industries,” Jokowi said.
The President said rice surplus achieved in the midst of global food crisis has become one of the indicators that Indonesia has a good food resilience system that deserves the award from IRRI.
Jokowi has also encouraged farmers to increase rice productivity so that Indonesia could enter the export market.
“We also continue to encourage this so that we do not only produce (rice) for our people consumption only. Later when production increases, we must also start entering export markets,” Jokowi said.
Source: Antara News