Affected By El Nino, Rice Production In 2023 Potentially Reduces By 650,000 Tons

Acting (Plt) Head of BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that rice production in 2023 reached 30.90 million tons, down by 2.05 percent, which was equivalent to 650,000 tons due to El Nino. "The production of 2023 rice is 30.90 million tons, down 0.65 million tons or 2.05 percent compared to last year," said Acting (Plt) Head of BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti quoted from ANTARA, Monday, October 16.

Amalia explained, rice production from January to September 2023 reached 26.11 million tons, down 0.22 percent or by 600,000 tons compared to the same period last year. "Meanwhile, production potential during October to December is estimated at 4.78 million tons, down 0.59 million tons compared to the same period last year or down 10.92 percent," he said. Long drought, said Amalia, also had an impact on reducing Indonesia's rice harvest area.

He explained that the rice harvest area in 2023 is estimated to reach 10.20 million hectares, down by 0.26 million hectares compared to last year's 10.45 million hectares. "The main contributor to the harvest area in 2023 is estimated to be due to the decline in the harvest area in West Java, South Sulawesi and Central Java, which the three provinces are national rice barns," Amalia explained, the potential deficit in rice production is widening until the end of 2023 and it is estimated that the largest deficit will occur in December, minus 1.45 million tons.

BPS calculates the deficit estimate using the area sampling framework method.

According to BPS calculations, the potential for a rice deficit in October 2023 will reach 500,000 tons.

The rice production deficit is predicted to widen in November 2023 to 950,000 tons of rice, and in December the potential deficit can reach 1.45 million tons of rice. "The potential deficit in rice production is widening until the end of 2023 and in December it reached minus 1.45 million tons of rice. By only considering the difference between domestic production estimates and consumption, rice production is estimated to be a surplus of 0.28 million tons throughout 2023," said Amalia.