Indonesia speeds up purchasing rice from local farmers

Indonesia’s State Logistics Agency (Bulog) has purchased 120,000 tonnes of unhusked rice (GKP) from farmers through domestic rice procurement, the agency announced.

The head of Bulog, Bayu Krisnamurthi on Monday said that Bulog is continuing to procure rice domestically during the ten-day Eid al Fitr holiday.

As of April 14, Bulog had bought around 120,000 tonnes of GKP, or equal to 64,000 tonnes of rice. Major GKP supplying areas are East Java, Central Java, West Java, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sumatra, and Yogyakarta.

Krisnamurthi said that the 64,000 tonnes of rice equivalent that Bulog managed to purchase this year is still less than its average domestic rice procurement for the January–April period in 2021–2023, which stood at around 375,000 tonnes.

This has been caused by late planting and harvests this year due to the El Nino phenomenon and other production problems, he explained. Statistics Indonesia recorded a 17% fall in rice output during the first quarter of 2024 compared to 2023.

He added that Bulog will continue to actively procure domestic rice during the April harvest season, which is expected to continue in May.

Meanwhile, according to Indonesia’s National Food Agency (Bapanas), the Indonesian Government has approved the purchase price for GKP at 6,000 IDR (0.37 USD) per kg, up from the previous 5,000 IDR, which is expected to increase the stock of the government rice reserves and support local farmers