Bulog Surakarta Rice Reserve Reaches 67,225 Tonnes
The government’s rice reserves managed by Bulog’s Surakarta branch currently stand at approximately 67,225 tonnes. This quantity is considered sufficient to meet the needs of residents in the Greater Solo region whilst maintaining stable food supplies in the area.
Nanang Harianto, head of Bulog Surakarta, stated that reserves have potential to increase in the coming months. This follows ongoing harvests in several regions and Bulog’s continued absorption activities of grain and rice from farmers.
“Our current rice stocks are around 67,225 tonnes and will continue to increase. We project that by the end of March, the figure could rise to approximately 80,000 tonnes,” Nanang told journalists in Solo on Monday, 9 March 2026.
According to Nanang, strengthening government rice reserves is an important step to maintain supply stability whilst anticipating increased public demand, including ahead of major religious observances.
Regarding the distribution of SPHP rice (subsidised rice for low-income households), several traders at Solo’s Legi Market reported not receiving supplies for approximately one week.
FX Hari Sutarti, one such trader, stated she had not received SPHP rice stock from Bulog for just over a week. “Many customers also asked about this rice because SPHP rice has quite a lot of buyers. For example, for those selling fried rice and so on, these are usually my customers,” she said.
Similarly, another trader Sri Wahyuni reported not receiving SPHP rice stock deliveries for approximately one week. “Based on what I heard, there might be a new contract or something, but I don’t fully understand,” she explained.
Regarding this matter, Nanang acknowledged that new technical guidelines for distributing SPHP rice in 2026 from the National Food Agency (Bapanas) were issued last week, which required re-registration of traders. He acknowledged that during this process, there was a temporary gap in rice distribution to market traders. However, he assured that by Monday, rice supplies had been redistributed to traders.
“Last week, SPHP rice and Minyakita oil were already distributed, and on Monday, 2 March 2026, during monitoring with the Food Task Force and Bapanas, significant SPHP rice stocks were still available. Distribution has resumed today as well,” Nanang said.
Beyond rice, Nanang stated that Bulog Surakarta also ensures cooking oil availability across the Greater Solo region remains protected. This supply is supported by the Ministry of Trade’s policy through the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) programme, which regulates cooking oil distribution for domestic needs.
Through this policy, Bulog Surakarta receives an allocation of approximately 500,000 litres of Minyakita brand cooking oil throughout 2026. This supply is expected to help maintain cooking oil availability for the public.
Nanang emphasised that with strong rice reserves and guaranteed cooking oil supplies, the public need not worry about food availability. “With sufficient rice stocks and guaranteed cooking oil distribution, we ensure that public needs can continue to be met,” he said.
He also urged the public to shop wisely according to their needs. According to him, excessive purchases can trigger market panic even though supply conditions are actually secure.
Bulog, together with the regional government, will continue monitoring stocks and prices of essential commodities, Nanang stated. This is done through absorption of farmers’ harvest, strengthening food distribution, and various stabilisation programmes to ensure supplies remain secure and prices remain controlled.