Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said harvesting currently taking place in several rice fields in West Java helps increase Indonesia’s national rice reserve amid the El Ninoclimate pattern that hits the country.”Major harvesting usually occurs in the first semester of the year. The rice crops are often harvested significantly in March-April,” he said while witnessing a rice harvesting in Subang, West Java, on Sunday. Jokowi noted that the rice harvesting in Ciasem Girang Village, Ciasem Sub-district, Subang District, was carried out amidst a decline in the volume of harvests in the second half of this year. In that location, local farmers harvested nine tons of rice per hectare. “We hope that the harvests can hopefully increase supplies to our national rice reserve,” President Jokowi said. The rice supply from Subang is expectedto help increase the national rice stock. Currently, around 1.7 million tons of rice are stored inState Logistics Agency’s (Bulog’s) warehouses. President Jokowi said the national rice stock is expected to increase again by around 1.5 million tons by the end of 2023. On that occasion, the president also talked about the impact of the El Nino phenomenon on crop yields that has triggered a decline in the country’s national rice production. “Thus, why do we add 1.5 million tons to our reserves? Because the El Nino has affected our production and existing harvests,” he said. Other rice fields in West Java, including the ones in Indramayu District, would hopefully follow the harvesting in Subang,” he added.

Source: Antara News Agency