JAKARTA - Perum Bulog President Director Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani emphasized that the flood and landslide disasters in several areas of Sumatra did not disrupt the national rice absorption target of 4 million tons throughout 2026, as mandated by the government.
Rizal ensured that the target would still be achieved because the government was preparing recovery steps for affected rice fields through pumping and full financing support from the Ministry of Agriculture which was measured.
"Insyaallah it will be achieved (the target of absorbing 4 million tons of rice). Because the damage to the rice fields in Sumatra has been assured by the Minister of Agriculture (Andi Amran Sulaiman) that there will be pumping and supported by financing," said Rizal in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Monday, January 12.
He emphasized this when he was met on the sidelines of the National Working Meeting entitled Evaluation of Performance 2025 and Work Plan 2026 attended by regional leaders throughout Indonesia which took place on January 11-12, in Jakarta.
According to Rizal, the Minister of Agriculture has ensured that land damage in Sumatra can be quickly restored, even immediately followed up during a working visit to Banda Aceh and North Sumatra to maintain national rice production.
Rizal explained that although January is still a recovery period for disasters, its influence on the national target is limited because the affected areas are not the main centers of national food production that support national rice needs.
He said the main production centers of national rice are in Java, South Sulawesi, Lampung, and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) which will continue to produce optimally to support the national Bulog supply and absorption in 2026 optimally in strengthening the government's rice reserves (CBP).
Meanwhile, the extent of damage to rice fields in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra is relatively small, still below 30 percent so that it does not significantly affect the balance of national rice supply.
"The damage is not too big. It's not even 30 percent, only if it's not wrong, it's only a few percent, it's still small," said Rizal.
With these various mitigation measures, Bulog is optimistic that the absorption of farmers' rice will remain maximum and the target of 4 million tons in 2026 can be achieved.
The strengthening of the government's rice reserve stock is carried out as an effort to maintain the sustainability of rice self-sufficiency which was announced by President Prabowo Subianto in Karawang, West Java, Wednesday, January 7.
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