This August 850 Thousand Hectares Ready To Harvest, Minister Of Agriculture Ensures National Rice Reserves Are Safe

Illustration. The rice cutting machine is operated in the rice cutting area of Gembongn Village, Karawang on Monday 5 November 2021. (Between-M Ibnu C)

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo guarantees that national rice reserves are in a safe condition to meet public consumption needs.

"For national rice reserves, it is very safe to meet the needs of public consumption," said the Minister of Agriculture while attending a coordination meeting to anticipate the climate impact of El Nino, Lampung Province, in Central Lampung, Wednesday, August 2, which was confiscated by Antara.

The Minister of Agriculture explained that the certainty of the availability of national rice reserves considering that until August 2023 there were still agricultural land productivity areas that were maintained.

"August, there are still areas that are ready to harvest above 850 thousand hectares, this production of grain and rice can be millions, so you could say the availability is safe," he said.

However, the Minister of Agriculture also reminded that various anticipatory steps need to be taken in the face of the impact of extreme weather, to prevent crop failure.

"Although there are still harvest areas, we should not be crowded because of this extreme weather if it rains directly, and if it is hot it can burn land or cause drought. So to prevent bad impacts, it will encourage the planting of 1,000 hectares in each area," he said.

Especially for Lampung Province, which is a food barn area, he said, it is hoped that regional heads can continue to assist farmers in producing.

"If the Governor of Lampung and the regents want to plant 1,000 hectares, we will prepare a KUR scheme and an alsintan package. And there must also be a food barn to the village level so that everything is maintained," he said again.

Based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan), national rice production detailed that in 2019 there were 31.31 million tons, 2020 was 31.36 million tons, in 2021 31.33 million tons, and in 2022 there were 31.54 million tons.

Meanwhile, the projected production of rice and rice in January-September 2023 includes January with a harvest area of 448 thousand hectares, production of milling dry unhulled rice (GKG) of 2.31 million tons, rice production of 1.33 million tons, and consumption of 2.53 million tons of rice.

Then, in February the harvest area was 940 thousand hectares, production of 4.96 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice, rice production 2.86 million tons, consumption of 2.54 million tons of rice. March harvest area of 1,649 thousand hectares, production of 8.89 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice, production of 5.12 million tons of rice, consumption of 2.54 million tons of rice.

Furthermore, in April the harvest area was 1,175 thousand hectares, with the production of milled dry unhulled rice reaching 6.24 million tons, rice production 3.60 million tons, and consumption reaching 2.54 million tons of rice; May has a harvest area of 973 thousand hectares, production of 4.80 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice, production of 2.77 million tons of rice, consumption of 2.54 million tons of rice; June the harvest area is 950 thousand hectares, production of 4.80 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice, production of 2.77 million tons of rice, consumption reaching 2.54 million tons of rice.

Then, the potential number for rice and grain production in July is an area of 818 thousand hectares of harvest, production of 4.16 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice, rice production 2.40 million tons, consumption of 2.55 million tons of rice.

In August, there were 836 thousand hectares of harvest, 4.13 million tons of milled dry unhulled rice, 2.38 million tons of rice produced, and 2.55 million tons of rice consumed.

In September the figure of productivity potential was 831 thousand hectares of harvest area, milling dry unhulled rice production reached 4.26 million tons, rice production 2.46 million tons, and consumption of 2.55 million tons of rice.