Jokowi Calls National Food Production Undisturbed Despite Being Affected By El Nino

President Jokowi while inspecting rice fields in Pekalongan, Central Java (doc Setneg)

INDRAMAYU - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said national food production is still good even though El Nino's weather has triggered drought and reduced production capacity.

"I looked down on that to ensure that the production was still good, but it did go down because of the super El-Nino," Jokowi said while reviewing the harvest in Indramayu, West Java, quoted by ANTARA Friday, October 13.

Jokowi said that national rice production was still in the good category despite a decline due to El Nino.

However, said Jokowi, the impact of El Nino not needing to be perceived could cause horror to Indonesia's food security because food production is still happening.

"Don't let us be conditioned 'wah, look really scary', no. Production is still good, but it is disturbed a little by Super El-Nino," he said.

In Indramayu, said Jokowi, harvest production is still good because irrigation is running optimally. From 1 hectare of agricultural land, it can produce 8'9 tons of unhulled rice or an average of 8.6 tons per hectare.

"The price of unhulled rice is now happy that all farmers, Rp7,300, Rp7,400, Rp7,200 (per kilogram), all farmers are happy, but some are not happy, consumers," said Jokowi.

To control rice prices at the consumer level, said Jokowi, rice from Perum Bulog must be immediately disbursed to the market.

In Bulog, there is government rice reserves (CBP) of 1.7 million tons. According to Jokowi, 500,000 600,000 tons of rice will soon come.

"Our food reserves are in safe condition, but indeed we need this rice to enter the price market, it can go down little by little," said President Jokowi.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, El Nino this year can reduce rice production to 1.2 million tons. The rice production target this year reaches 30 million tons.