Minister of Agriculture Targets 6 Months to Recover Rice Fields Affected by the Sumatra Disaster

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman targets the recovery of rice fields affected by disasters in several areas of Sumatra can be completed within six months.

The Minister of Agriculture explained that the total damage to rice fields due to disasters reached around 94 thousand hectares, spread among others in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. Meanwhile, the land that has been repaired and can be replanted is as much as 39 thousand hectares.

Amran, who was met after the coordination meeting of the Sumatra Post-disaster Recovery Task Force in Jakarta, Wednesday, said that the ministry he led prioritized the repair of land with a low level of damage first, so that it could be replanted immediately, while still dealing with moderate to severe damage in parallel.

"We try to complete everything in six months," he said.

The Minister of Agriculture also said that his party did not do much improvement, considering that the land in the affected area was quite fertile.

"For damaged and rehabilitated rice fields, landslide soils are humus and quite fertile, so we only repair irrigation and immediately plant," he said.

In terms of food security, he said, rice stocks in the field are sufficient for the next three months, while national rice stocks are currently at a high level, namely around 3.5 million tons.

Regarding financing support, Amran said that the assistance that had been realized amounted to around IDR 1.52 trillion. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has also shifted regular budgets of around IDR 1.49 trillion for the period 2025-2026 to support recovery.

"Then it still needs an additional Rp2.1 trillion in 2026, Rp1.1 trillion in 2027, a total of Rp4.7 trillion," he said.