Wamentan: Government Rice Reserves Reach 5.37 Million Tonnes, the Highest in History

JAKARTA — Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono, alias Mas Dar, said that the current stock of the Government Rice Reserve (CBP) reached 5.47 million tonnes. He made the remarks during a Working Meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture with Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (19 May 2026). Mas Dar said the CBP stock data refer to data from Perum Bulog, the state food logistics company tasked with absorbing paddy rice from farmers. ‘Cadangan beras sampai dengan 18 Mei mencapai 5,37 juta ton, tertinggi sepanjang sejarah Republik Indonesia,’ said Mas Dar, as quoted in the official statement from the Government Public Relations Agency (Bakom RI) on Tuesday. That amount is equivalent to 70 percent of the total rice absorption task that the government ordered Bulog to absorb at 4 million tonnes in 2026. Mas Dar estimated that by the end of the first half of 2026, Bulog could absorb 3.3 million tonnes of rice and rice equivalents, about 82 percent of this year’s target. ‘This figure (the first-half projection) is up 25.54 percent from last year’s realisation, which was 2.65 million tonnes,’ he said. Furthermore, the ally of President Prabowo Subianto is confident Bulog will meet the government’s rice absorption target. The conviction is based on a harvest area reaching 929 thousand hectares in May. Meanwhile, the harvested area for June is projected to reach 841 thousand hectares. Based on these figures, the government is confident Bulog will meet the 4 million-tonne target in the second half. ‘From July to December, the procurement target is 670 thousand tonnes, or up 24.16 percent from the previous year,’ he said.