Oversupply Leads to Tens of Thousands of Tons of Rice Going Bad, Says Indonesian Minister

October 22, 2025 | 08:15 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Minister of Agriculture, Amran Sulaiman, stated that around 30,000 government rice reserves stored in Bulog warehouses were damaged. "It used to be undamaged because there was no rice, Sir. Now, it's damaged because there's an oversupply of rice," said Amran during the 'Town Hall Meeting One Year of the Ministry of Food' event at Graha Mandiri in Jakarta on Tuesday, October 21, 2025.

Amran mentioned that there are currently around 4.2 million tons of rice stored in Bulog warehouses. According to him, the amount of government rice reserves is the largest since Indonesia's independence.

Earlier this year, through Presidential Instruction Number 6 of 2025, President Prabowo Subianto assigned Bulog to absorb 3 million tons of rice. By October 15, 2025, Bulog had absorbed 3.13 million tons of rice.

According to Amran, in its realization, Bulog only absorbed 8 percent of the rice. Meanwhile, the majority, or 92 percent of the rice, was absorbed by private companies.

Amran also mentioned the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which stated that Indonesia experienced the second largest increase in rice production in the world. "We will soon be number one," he said.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan ensured that Indonesia will not import rice until December 2025. Zulhas-his nickname-compared this to last year when Indonesia imported 4.5 million tons of rice. With the absence of food commodity imports, Zulhas also stated that Indonesia is already self-sufficient in rice.

According to Zulhas, the national rice production achievements are influenced by several factors such as the 7.4 million hectares of rice fields, irrigation programs, and fertilization programs.

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