Jakarta (ANTARA) - Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman announced that the government's rice reserve stock, currently managed by the National Logistics Agency (Bulog), has exceeded four million tons—marking the highest level achieved by Indonesia in 57 years.

As a result, Sulaiman is confident that the goal of rice self-sufficiency, initially set for the fourth year of President Prabowo Subianto's administration, can be achieved sooner in the third year.

"Hopefully, this year, there will be no imports (of rice),” Sulaiman stated during a press conference at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Monday (June 2).

"Our (rice) stock is now more than four million tons, the highest in 57 years. We once reached three million tons in 1984," he remarked.

With current stock, he noted, the government is able to distribute 10 kilograms of rice as food assistance to 18.3 million beneficiary families (KPM) for two months.

"We will distribute it to the underprivileged," Sulaiman remarked.

He assured that the distribution of rice social assistance will not impact the farmer's exchange rate (NTP). Therefore, the rice assistance is distributed to non-rice producing regions such as urban areas, or places with low rice production, like the Maluku Islands and Papua.

On the island of Java, the main producer of rice, the government's rice assistance is distributed to areas where the selling price (HPP) exceeds the government-set figure.

"This is our strategy to maintain good prices at the farmer level and also good prices at the consumer level,” he affirmed.

He reported that the farmer exchange rate (NTP) as of May 2025 rose to 121. Sulaiman said the figure surpassed the target set at 110 and is higher than last year's NTP for the same month, which was 116.

The NTP is the ratio between the price index received by farmers and the price index paid by farmers. It serves as an indicator of farmers' purchasing power.

An NTP above 100 signifies that farmers are in a surplus position.



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