Every month, there is still a harvest of 800 thousand hectares, and it produces sufficient (quantity) for our needs of around 2 million (tons) per month.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government will prepare 500 thousand hectares of agricultural land to anticipate the impact of a prolonged dry season due to the El Nino phenomenon, according to Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

He made the statement after attending a meeting at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Limpo said that since the El Nino warning was issued this year, he has routinely carried out inspections in regions and reviewed the facilities for supporting rice production.

He informed that he recently inspected a number of reservoirs and dams in several regions and saw data showing that the irrigation function was still running well.

The minister said that he has actively coordinated with regional heads to anticipate El Nino.

He further said that he has mapped out the worst potential impact of El Nino on rice stocks in Indonesia for the August–September 2023 period.

According to him, there is a possibility of a production shortfall due to El Nino of around 300 thousand tons to 1.2 million tons.

He said that production lands that have been prepared to anticipate El Nino are located in North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Central Java, West Java, East Java, and South Sulawesi.

In addition, the government has also readied buffer regions for production in South Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, Banten, and Lampung.

He said he is therefore optimistic about keeping the impact of El Nino under control and preventing it from disrupting national food stocks, especially rice stocks.

Based on the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, the stocks and prices of rice are still maintained so far. As of September 2023, the government will still have surplus rice stocks of 2.7 million tons, he said.

"Every month, there is still a harvest of 800 thousand hectares, and it produces sufficient (quantity) for our needs of around 2 million (tons) per month," he explained.

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Translator: Indra Arief, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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