Bulog Given Mandate to Absorb Local Farmers’ Soybeans

Jakarta, Kompas.com - Bulog’s President Director Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani said Bulog has been tasked by the government to absorb the soybean harvest produced by farmers in Nganjuk, East Java. The order was given by Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman during a soybean harvest ceremony on Thursday, 15 May 2026. ‘In line with his directive, Bulog was instructed to absorb the soybean harvest from the parapetani farmers in Nganjuk yesterday,’ Ramdhani told reporters in the Kuningan area, Jakarta, on Friday, 22 May 2026. According to Ramdhani, Amran has also outlined plans to expand soybean planting land to 1 million hectares. ‘The Minister’s directive going forward is that self-sufficiency in soybeans must also be achievable,’ he said. The Ministry of Agriculture previously held a soybean harvest together with the Chairman of Commission IV of the DPR RI, Siti Hediati Soeharto (Titiek Soeharto), and the Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces, General Agus Subiyanto, last Thursday. Amran said soybeans are a commodity with projected consumption reaching 2.7 million tonnes in 2026. Soybeans are the basis for making tahu, tempeh, and various other processed products. However, domestic production currently meets only 5 percent of national needs. ‘For soybeans, that is not yet. Far off. We import 2.4 million tonnes. From a requirement of 2.6 to 2.7 million, this is the biggest gap,’ Amran said in a written statement. The Ministry notes that national average soybean production in the last five years has stood at 227,000 tonnes per year. Production comes from 136,000 hectares of planted area, with an average productivity of 1.6 tonnes per hectare. As of April 2026, national soybean production reached 4,982 tonnes from a planted area of 7,018 hectares.