Bulog Chief Urges Caution on El Niño Rhetoric, Fears It May Deter Farmers

The President Director of Perum Bulog, Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani, has urged that various statements regarding the threat of El Niño not be made carelessly without being supported by truly accurate data. He argued that the narrative surrounding El Niño could actually affect the psychology of farmers, making them hesitant to begin planting. Rizal admitted he still questions whether the impact of El Niño has genuinely occurred in Indonesia, as during his various working visits to a number of regions, he still encountered rainfall. “I apologise, but if it is said to be El Niño, there is still rain now. We are still experiencing rain in Jakarta, I still experienced rain in Papua, I still experienced rain in Kalimantan, I still experienced rain on every visit to Sumatra. So I am also questioning whether this El Niño is real,” Rizal said when met at his office in Jakarta on Monday (13/7/2026). According to him, statements about El Niño must be truly confirmed based on facts on the ground. He fears the issue will instead cause farmers to abandon their intention to cultivate crops. “So instead, we are urging that the El Niño statement must be properly confirmed. Because it affects farmers who originally wanted to plant, making them afraid to plant because of this El Niño statement. So in our view, El Niño must be truly decided based on thoroughly tested facts,” he stated. Rizal noted that weather forecasts in Indonesia do not always match predictions, so the delivery of information regarding El Niño must be done carefully. “I apologise, but if overseas the forecast says it will rain, it really does rain. But in Indonesia, it is not certain to rain. So in our opinion, I am sorry, but this El Niño statement should really be considered carefully,” he said. Meanwhile, the General Chair of the Indonesian Rice Millers and Rice Entrepreneurs Association (Perpadi), Sutarto Alimoeso, assessed that the impact of El Niño on production and food prices cannot yet be concluded. This is because several regions are only just beginning to enter the harvest season. “Well, from our friends in the field, the problem faced previously was indeed a drop in production. It was not a drop according to the harvest pattern, as the production cycle was indeed declining,” said Sutarto. “Then starting this July, harvesting has indeed begun in several places. We will later know what the impact is like, because the harvest is only just about to start. So it will become clear around August whether it has dropped or not,” he continued. According to Sutarto, business players have so far not seen a significant impact because the supply of unhusked rice continues to flow. A clearer picture will only emerge after the second harvest takes place. “It is not yet visible, so later we will see if it suddenly runs out quickly, and what the numerical calculations are like,” he concluded.