El Niño drought threat: Amran prepares pumping irrigation for 2 million hectares
Jakarta — Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture (Mentan) has stated that the government has prepared mitigation steps to face potential drought linked to the El Niño phenomenon forecast to occur this year. Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said BMKG signalled a risk of drought expected to be felt from April.
“BMKG announced there will be drought this year. We have experience dealing with the harshest El Niño. This El Niño is expected to begin in April. The most severe El Niño we faced was in 2023; alhamdulillah we managed to get through it,” Amran told a press conference at the Ministry of Agriculture office in Jakarta on Friday (6 March 2026).
He emphasised that national food stockpiles are currently safe, estimated to last for almost 11 months. “But going forward, Insyaallah this year, we hope there are no obstacles. Our stock is safe for about 10.7 months, or 324 days, and each month we still produce between 2.6 and 5.7 million tonnes. That is the harvest range every month, while our needs are 2.5 million tonnes per month. So food is secure,” he said.
He also assessed that this year’s El Niño is weaker than previous ones, so there is little need for excessive worry. “There’s no need to be anxious; this El Niño is weaker than before. It is not as strong as previous years. Insyaallah we can face it,” he said.
To anticipate the drought’s impact, the government has prepared various supporting infrastructures, including a pumping irrigation program for rain-fed agricultural land. “The current preparation, in relation to the drought that BMKG announced a few days ago, Insyaallah is easier to face. Already in the field there is pumping irrigation for 1.2 million hectares prepared. This year we will prepare another 1 million hectares,” Amran explained.
With the added area, around 2 million hectares of land can be supplied with water during the dry season via river pumping systems, embung reservoirs, and wells. “So we can prepare 2 million hectares for irrigation during the dry season. Pumping irrigation for rivers and all, embung, deep wells and shallow wells are prepared. So the infrastructure is ready,” he said.
In addition to water infrastructure, the government is also preparing drought-tolerant seeds, optimising around 1 million hectares of peatlands, and providing support for agricultural machinery. “We have prepared seeds that are drought-tolerant, including those tolerant of freshwater environments. We have prepared all the seeds,” he added.
He added that national rice stocks are currently at a historic high for March. “And I would add that our stock today is 3.76 million tonnes, the highest ever for March in the history of Indonesia,” he stated. In the next two months, reserves are expected to rise to at least 5 million tonnes. “The possibility in the next two months is, at minimum not maximum, five million tonnes. That’s never happened in the history of the Republic of Indonesia,” Amran concluded.