Data-Based: APPMBGI Chairman: Indonesia's 2025 Rice Self-Sufficiency Not a Miracle
The Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Entrepreneurs and Managers of Free Nutritious Meals (APPMBGI) emphasises that Indonesia’s rice self-sufficiency last year was a concrete achievement supported by official data. This accomplishment is not merely political narrative or a “sudden surprise”.
This statement directly addresses various doubts circulating on social media regarding the sustainability of national food self-sufficiency.
APPMBGI Chairman Abdul Rivai Ras states that narratives doubting Indonesia’s ability to achieve sustainable rice self-sufficiency do not align with the reality on the ground.
“National rice production in 2025 reached approximately 34.7 million tonnes, while societal consumption needs were only around 31.1 million tonnes. This means we have a surplus of more than 3 million tonnes,” explains Rivai, directly citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
He adds that the National Food Agency also recorded a significant increase in government rice reserves and strengthened national stocks throughout the year. “In food economics, self-sufficiency is simple: when production exceeds consumption. This is not an opinion; these are official figures,” he asserts.
Rivai explains that the 2025 self-sufficiency achievement is not the result of chance, but the fruit of systematic government efforts through the Ministry of Agriculture.
Several key steps that drove this acceleration include: increasing the national harvested area, improving land productivity through technology and superior seeds, strengthening paddy prices at the farmer level to keep them motivated to plant, and optimising the absorption of production results by Perum BULOG.
“Thus, this self-sufficiency is the result of policy consistency, not a short-term anomaly,” says Rivai.
He also clearly distinguishes between tactical imports and structural dependence. The rice imports conducted at the beginning of the year were only temporary in nature to maintain price and stock stability.
The national food balance is calculated annually based on the overall balance of production and consumption, not monthly. Therefore, limited imports do not automatically erase the self-sufficiency status achieved throughout the year.
Some parties often compare Indonesia with Japan, which has highly advanced agricultural technology. According to Rivai, such comparisons are not entirely appropriate. Indonesia faces far different challenges, due to the much larger scale of rice consumption, diverse land characteristics, and a farmer structure that is mostly small-scale and traditional.
“Self-sufficiency success is not measured by who has the most advanced technology, but by a nation’s ability to meet its own people’s food needs,” Rivai asserts.
Rivai urges the public to view the data objectively. “What we see is not claims, but number-based reality. The 2025 rice self-sufficiency is a historic momentum for Indonesia’s food sovereignty,” he states.
Future challenges, according to him, are no longer about proving whether Indonesia is capable, but how to maintain, strengthen, and ensure that the benefits of this self-sufficiency are felt equitably by all the people, from farmers to household consumers.
In this way, he calls on all parties to support the sustainability of this rice self-sufficiency, because food security is the main foundation of national independence.