JAKARTA - Researcher at the Center of Reform on Economics (Core) Indonesia Eliza Mardian assessed that Indonesia's achievement as the largest rice producer in Southeast Asia needs to be followed by an increase in agricultural productivity and farmer welfare so that it is sustainable in the long term.
He said that the achievement should be appreciated as the result of the hard work of farmers and the support of various government policies in encouraging national food production.
"We have good achievements related to rice. This should be appreciated as the result of the hard work of farmers and policy support," said Eliza as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 23.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ranks Indonesia as the largest producer of rice in Southeast Asia and the fourth largest in the world after India, China, and Bangladesh.
National rice production in 2025 was recorded at 34.69 million tons, an increase of around 4 million tons or 13.2 percent compared to the previous year of 30.62 million tons.
In addition, FAO estimates that Indonesia's rice stocks have the potential to increase to 7.8 million tons in the 2026-2027 period.
Currently, the government has recorded the government rice reserve stock (CBP) managed by Perum Bulog has exceeded 5 million tons.
According to Eliza, Indonesia's superiority in the Southeast Asian region is mainly supported by the size of the national rice production base, including significant rice fields.
However, he assessed that Indonesia's rice productivity was still lagging behind Vietnam, which was able to produce higher production per unit of land area.
"The government needs to reorient priorities. Policies must shift not only to pursue production volume, but to increase sustainable productivity and improve farmers' welfare," he said.
National rice productivity is currently still in the range of 5.2 tons per hectare, while Vietnam has reached around 6 tons per hectare.
This condition, he continued, shows that there is still room to increase the efficiency and productivity of rice cultivation in Indonesia.
He said that increasing productivity was important because the challenges of the agricultural sector in the future were not only related to meeting food needs, but also climate change, land function changes, and farmer regeneration.
Therefore, according to Eliza, agricultural policies need to be directed at increasing production efficiency, the use of technology, and strengthening the capacity of farmers so that crop yields can continue to increase without relying solely on land expansion.
"To be truly resilient and sustainable in the face of climate and demographic uncertainty, Indonesia must dare to step out of the comfort zone of total production figures and start seriously pursuing even higher efficiency and productivity," he said.
Meanwhile, Galau Muhammad, Researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), reminded that the high production of rice does not automatically reflect the strength of national food security.
"It cannot be compared with overall food security when it comes to annual rice production," said Galau.
According to him, food security is also determined by distribution efficiency, price stability, supply chain quality, and people's ability to access food evenly.
Galau menilai keberlanjutan produksi beras perlu dibarengi perbaikan sistem distribusi dan peningkatan kesejahteraan petani agar manfaat kenaikan produksi dapat dirasakan secara luas.
He added that food policies also need to pay more attention to small-scale farmers who are still the backbone of national agricultural production, while strengthening the ability of the agricultural sector to face the impact of climate change.
"It's not just about the quantity of production we can achieve, but how the supply chain is systemic, the stability of prices at the household level, and the welfare of farmers," he said.
On the other hand, the government stated that increasing agricultural productivity is also one of the main focuses to maintain the sustainability of rice self-sufficiency.
The Ministry of Agriculture said that these efforts were carried out through the strengthening of irrigation and pumping, the use of superior seeds, agricultural mechanization, and land optimization to increase crop yields and crop index.
Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman previously stated that the government allocated around Rp. 5 trillion to strengthen irrigation, pumping, and the provision of superior seeds to maintain agricultural productivity in the midst of extreme weather risks. The program covers land management of up to 1.5 million hectares and assistance of 80 thousand water pumps which are targeted to reach around 1 million hectares of rice fields.
In addition, the government also encourages the use of superior varieties and mechanization of agriculture to increase productivity without relying entirely on land expansion.
The Ministry of Agriculture noted that the superior rice seeds developed have the potential to produce more than 8 tons per hectare, while efforts to modernize agricultural tools and machinery are expected to further increase the efficiency of farmers' businesses and maintain the sustainability of national food production.
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