Facing El Niño, Agriculture Minister: Rp4 Trillion Budget Prepared for Pumping Irrigation
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Agriculture Minister and Head of the National Food Agency Andi Amran Sulaiman stated that the government is preparing a budget of up to Rp4 trillion for pumping irrigation as a strategic measure to address the potential El Niño, aiming to maintain water availability and national agricultural productivity.
Amran said the pumping irrigation programme will be implemented on a massive scale to support irrigation needs in various regions, particularly areas at risk of drought due to prolonged dry seasons.
“That (pumping irrigation budget) is approximately Rp3-4 trillion,” the Minister said when met after a working meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Tuesday.
In addition to pumps, the government is also repairing irrigation networks through collaboration with the Ministry of Public Works (Ministry of PU) to ensure optimal water distribution to agricultural lands.
The Minister emphasised that pump assistance is provided free of charge to farmers, so as not to burden operational costs, including fuel needs, in efforts to sustain national agricultural production.
“We provide pumps (to farmers) for free,” Amran stated.
Previously, in the working meeting with Commission IV of DPR RI, Amran said he has undertaken various efforts to address geopolitical impacts as well as potential droughts due to El Niño.
These include requesting regional heads to immediately map drought-prone agricultural areas to safeguard production and national food security, while preparing an integrated early warning system.
These steps are crucial to ensure a rapid response to potential droughts, so that the impact on agricultural production can be minimised through thorough planning and cross-sectoral coordination at the local level.
Furthermore, Amran said his ministry is optimising irrigation water management through network rehabilitation, construction of small reservoirs, shallow wells, deep wells, as well as the utilisation of piped pumps and pumped irrigation.
These efforts are reinforced with strategies to accelerate planting using drought-resistant varieties, adaptive cropping patterns, and enhanced coordination between local governments and all agricultural stakeholders.
To support the implementation of these policies, the Ministry of Agriculture has prepared agricultural tools and machinery, including water pumps, tractors, hand sprayers, and transplanters, in large quantities on a phased basis.
Amran mentioned that during the 2024 to 2025 period, the government has provided 171,000 units of agricultural tools and machinery to strengthen farmers’ readiness in facing climate change challenges and dry seasons.
Meanwhile, for 2026, a target has been set for the distribution of 37,000 units of water infrastructure such as pumped irrigation, piping, conservation, tertiary network rehabilitation, as well as an additional 94,000 units of water pumps to support production.
“Then opla (land optimisation), which is called opla, is the swamps where we improve the irrigation, repairing 800,000 hectares across Indonesia. So our preparations are much better,” he said.
He also mentioned that the government’s rice reserve stock (CBP) managed in state-owned food warehouses as of 7 April 2026 reached 4.6 million tonnes, up from the previous 4.5 million tonnes, marking the highest figure in the history of national food stock management in Indonesia.
“The stock (government rice reserve) let’s say by the end of this month (April) insha Allah will reach 5 million tonnes,” he said.
The Minister also emphasised that Indonesia has strong experience in dealing with El Niño, thus capable of maintaining national food production stability through measured adaptation and mitigation strategies.
“Anticipating the upcoming El Niño conditions, we have faced two or three El Niño events: 2015-2016, then 2023 and 2024,” Amran said.