Fines for Offenders Converting Paddy Fields Under Preparation

Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan stated that the government is preparing a draft government regulation (RPP) that will serve as the legal framework for the mechanism of fines against perpetrators who convert paddy field land. “This will be finalised by the echelon 1 officials in the next 10 days, then we will proceed to harmonisation,” he said at Graha Mandiri, Jakarta, on Monday, 30 March 2026. Zulhas, as he is nicknamed, said that fines will be imposed on parties or entrepreneurs who convert paddy fields into non-agricultural land such as housing. He stated that based on data collected from 2019 to 2025, approximately 600,000 hectares of paddy fields have been converted. The politician from the National Mandate Party said that the government is still formulating the fine mechanism that will apply. However, he explained that the fine would be in the form of land replacement by opening new paddy fields with an area one to three times that of the converted land. He gave an example of land opening implementation for three categories of areas. For productive land with irrigation, it must be replaced with three times the area. Meanwhile, for less productive paddy fields, it must be replaced by opening land with twice the area. As for rain-fed land, it must be replaced with one times the area. “We will require all violations of paddy fields that have changed function to be immediately replaced by the violators. Some three times, some two times, some one time, this is being formulated,” he said. He stated that the draft government regulation would be submitted for harmonisation to the Ministry of Law. He targets the RPP to be completed within one to two months. In the same opportunity, Zulhas explained the progress of protected paddy areas. He said that the government has completed 12 provinces with a total area of 2,739,640 hectares that have been designated by the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning. Those dozen provinces are Aceh, North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, Riau, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi. The rest, 17 provinces, are targeted to have protected paddy land status by 15 June 2026 or in the second quarter of this year. He said there is approximately 744,000 hectares of registered land area. “Now it’s just a matter of cooperation between related agencies, up to this point it has been successfully carried out according to schedule,” he said.