Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran: The Government Has Experienced Godzilla El Nino, the Worst in 2015

Makassar - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman emphasized that the government has experience dealing with the dry season due to the Godzilla El Nino. According to him, the current situation is still better if compared to 2015.

This was conveyed by Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran during a visit to Makassar, South Sulawesi, not long ago. According to Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran, the drought prediction for six months, is felt to be able to be faced because in 2015, 2023, and 2024 Indonesia was hit by El Nino.

He also stated that with the prediction of a long drought for six months, the government projected that domestic food stocks would be safe for the next 11 months. The calculation of food stock resilience is based on the combined availability of national rice currently in the Bulog warehouse, the private sector, and the potential harvest that is and will take place in the next few months.

According to Amran, the rice stock in the Bulog warehouse currently reaches 4.5 million tons. In the next 20 days, this number is predicted to increase to 5 million tons. In addition, there are private rice stocks in the hospitality, restaurant, and cafe (Horeka) sectors which currently reach 12.5 million tons.

Then, there is also an additional stock from the harvest of existing crops (standing crop) with a potential of 11 million tons. Then, through various policies such as the pumpanization program to anticipate a decline in production due to hot weather starting April 2026, Amran estimates that there will be an additional harvest of up to 2 million tons per month, so there will be an additional rice stock of 12 million tons.

Thus, he projected that rice stocks were very safe, even up to more than 11 months or until the peak of the 2027 harvest. In conjunction with this, the National Food Agency (Bapanas) also stated that it would continue to strengthen the government's food reserve stocks (CPP) in the face of the Godzilla El Nino.

According to Bapanas data as of April 2, 2026, the stock of rice CPP is 4.4 million tons, feed corn 168 thousand tons, granulated sugar 49 thousand tons, and cooking oil 121 thousand kiloliters. Then, beef 8 thousand tons, buffalo meat 3 thousand tons, chicken meat 39 tons, and chicken eggs 17 tons.