Bulog: Food Stocks Secure Despite Middle East Turmoil and Godzilla El Niño

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Perum Bulog has confirmed that the government’s food reserve stocks remain secure despite turmoil in the Middle East and the threat of an extreme El Niño phenomenon or “Godzilla El Niño” that could trigger prolonged drought.

Bulog’s President Director, Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani, emphasised that the national food situation is relatively stable because Indonesia has achieved food self-sufficiency, meaning the impact of global conflicts does not significantly affect current domestic food availability.

“Yes, that’s correct (food stocks amid Middle East turmoil). So, we in Indonesia are grateful, alhamdulillah, for achieving food self-sufficiency, so Indonesia’s food issues are not greatly affected by the Middle East problems,” Rizal said when contacted in Jakarta on Sunday.

He explained that the achievement of food self-sufficiency is a key factor in maintaining national resilience, so pressures from international geopolitical turmoil do not immediately have a significant impact on the food supply for the wider population domestically.

The state-owned food enterprise recorded that the total national rice commodity stock currently stands at 4.23 million tonnes, the highest record in Indonesia’s history since independence.

With that amount, Bulog is optimistic that food availability can meet public needs until the end of the year, including in facing the potential for prolonged dry weather due to the El Niño phenomenon, which is expected to be quite extreme.

In commodity management, Bulog does not rely solely on rice but also manages corn as livestock feed domestically.

For the cooking oil commodity, Bulog recorded availability of around 72,000 kilolitres per month, which is deemed sufficient to maintain supply and price stability at the national consumer level.

With these conditions, Bulog assures the public that there is no need to worry about food availability, as all stocks are in a safe, controlled condition and continue to be optimally managed to meet national needs.

“So it’s quite safe and controlled. So the public doesn’t need to be in doubt,” Rizal said.

Previously, the Minister of Agriculture and Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), Andi Amran Sulaiman, stated that Indonesia has achieved food self-sufficiency in nine strategic commodities since the beginning of 2026.

He mentioned that the nine commodities include rice, consumption sugar, large chillies, bird’s eye chillies, corn, cooking oil, chicken meat, chicken eggs, and shallots.