Bulog Rice Stock Deposits A Year, The Ombudsman Asks To Be Distributed To The Market

The Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) has encouraged the government to immediately distribute rice reserves in Perum Bulog's warehouse to the market.

This is to create a sense of security and comfort for all business actors in order to maintain price stability, ensure rice supply, protect consumers, and ensure the welfare of farmers, especially in the midst of the recent outbreak polemic.

"The rice in Bulog's warehouse must come out immediately considering that the community needs the availability of rice, while business actors also need to be convinced by a mechanism that guarantees a sense of security in order to absorb Bulog rice," said the member of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Yeka Hendra Fatika in his official statement, quoted on Saturday, August 9.

He reminded that some of the rice in Bulog's warehouse is more than one year old, with the oldest stock recorded since February 2024, so that it has the potential to experience a decline in quality if it is not distributed immediately.

In addition, the Ombudsman also encourages the evaluation of the distribution of Stableized Rice Supply and Food Prices (SPHP) to be carried out in the right period, namely August to January.

The distribution chain is proposed to be reviewed, from the original Bulog 'Retail' Consumer to Bulog 'Retail' Consumer Milling'. The government is also advised to prohibit the sale of bulk rice and encourage the circulation of small packaged rice with a clear quality label.

This step is expected to increase consumer protection as well as encourage transparency in the quality of rice in the market. "In addition, the certified seed industry must be strengthened to ensure the quality of national rice production," Yeka added.

The government through the National Food Agency (Bapanas) ensures that the national rice stock is in very sufficient condition. As of August 1, 2025, the rice stock in Perum Bulog's warehouse was recorded at 3.97 million tons, consisting of 3.95 million tons of government rice reserves (CBP) and 11,900 tons of commercial rice.

"Today, the total rice stock in Bulog is around 3.97 million tons. So don't worry, because the government's rice stock is large," said Head of Badanas, Arief Prasetyo Adi.

In addition, the realization of rice absorption from domestic production has reached 2.78 million tons, or about 92.79 percent of this year's national absorption target set at 3 million tons.