November, December, and January are critical times, so Bulog (State Logistics Agency) must have government rice reserves…Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's National Food Agency (Bapanas) is targeting to increase government rice reserves to two million tons by the end of 2024, considering that rice demand is projected to rise ahead of the regional elections in November.
During a meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR) here on Wednesday, Bapanas head Arief Prasetyo Adi said that the rice reserves need to be increased because rice production is predicted to decline at the end of the year and in early 2025.
"November, December, and January are critical times, so Bulog (State Logistics Agency) must have government rice reserves, and we hope the amount can be above two million tons because, as of today, it is still 1.3 million tons," he added.
Adi informed that as of September 2, 2024, Bulog's national rice stocks stood at 1.39 million tons, comprising 1.31 million tons of rice-in-hand and 84.75 thousand tons of imported rice-in-delivery.
He said that now is the right time to increase the rice reserves.
This is because, based on Statistics Indonesia's (BPS') Area Sample Framework (KSA) observations in July 2024 (updated as of August 22), rice production in the September and October periods may increase to 2.87 million tons and 2.59 million tons, respectively.
The figures reflect an increase compared to June and July, when rice production was recorded at 2.06 million tons and 2.05 million tons, respectively.
According to the BPS survey, production in September and October is projected to surpass national rice consumption of 2.58 million tons for the same period, indicating a surplus.
Earlier, Bulog president director Bayu Krisnamurthi said that the agency, which received a rice import quota of 3.6 million tons this year, has realized 2.4 million tons of rice imports.
The remaining quota of 1.2 million tons is expected to be brought in before December. The imported rice will be used as government reserve rice, including for the Rice Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program.
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Translator: Shofi Ayudiana, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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