Indonesia Officially Exports 2,280 Tons of Rice for the 2026 Hajj to Saudi Arabia

JAKARTA - Indonesia through Perum Bulog officially exported 2,280 tons of Befood Nusantara Rice to Saudi Arabia to meet the needs of Indonesian Hajj in 2026. The exported rice has super premium quality.

The export was marked by the release of five container trucks carrying the rice. The release was carried out directly by Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman, Deputy Minister of Trade Diah Roro Esti and representatives of Commission IV of the DPR RI, as well as the President Director of Perum Bulog Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani at the Pergudangan Perum Bulog Kanwil DKI Jakarta & Banten, Jakarta, Wednesday, March 4.

The President Director of Perum Bulog, Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani, said that the volume of rice exports was in accordance with the request from the Ministry of Hajj which referred to the number of pilgrims this year.

"The total export of Hajj rice is 2,280 tons. This is in accordance with the request from the Ministry of Hajj, in accordance with the number of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims this year, approximately 215,000 Hajj pilgrims," he said in a speech at the release of rice exports to Saudi Arabia, Jakarta, Wednesday, March 4.

According to Rizal, this export is not merely a trade activity, but a symbol of national independence. In addition, this step is also part of the government's efforts to introduce the quality of Indonesian rice in the global market.

Moreover, continued Rizal, the potential market in Saudi Arabia is very large. Even in a year, the number of umrah pilgrims can reach almost 2 million people. However, in the future, exports will be carried out with a commercial scheme.

"For the future, the concept is commercial, not like now, if now we still have a little subsidy and so on. The goal now is promotion, if we sell, we promote first, we give the best at a cheap price, people are interested so that they want to use Indonesian rice in the future," said Rizal.

In addition, Rizal also ensured that the rice exported this time was the best ever produced by Perum Bulog. The rice is the result of the procurement of fresh grain from domestic farmers processed through a high-standard modern Rice Milling Unit (RMU).

Rizal said the rice sent to Saudi Arabia was a super premium category with a breakage rate of less than 5 percent, even reaching around 4 percent, and a water content of less than 14 percent.

"So according to us, this is super premium rice that we have ever made by Bulog. So far, Bulog has made premium rice that is 15 percent broken," said Rizal.