Bulog Absorbs 500 Thousand Tons Of Rice From Local Farmers Throughout Indonesia

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Perum Bulog claims to have absorbed 500 thousand tons of rice from local farmers throughout Indonesia as a form of commitment to secure grain prices at the grassroots level, during the period from the beginning of the year until the third week of May 2023. "Realization of this absorption is slightly better than the same period in the previous year," said Bulog Secretary Awaludin Iqbal in a statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Friday, May 26. He said that rice absorption from local farmers in the same period last year was recorded at 400 thousand tons. In addition to cultivating stocks as government rice reserves, said Awaludin, rice and grain absorption activities of local farmers also stimulated the economy at the farmer level. The absorption also had an impact on price stabilization at the farmer level. Government rice reserve stocks are used for distribution of food aid, distribution of market operations as well as other distribution needs. Bulog has a storage capacity of up to 4 million tons. Thus, warehouses are still available to store grains and rice from absorption results at the farmer level.

"We have 1,682 warehouse units with a capacity of 4 million tons spread throughout Indonesia to disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas," said Awaludin. "We are very ready to absorb domestic farmers' production throughout the archipelago whose realization will certainly continue to grow in the future," he added. Furthermore, he said that the absorption of domestic rice, plus the realization of imports that had arrived as much as 350 thousand tons, the number of government rice reserves stored in Bulog warehouses has now reached 560 thousand tons.