Jakarta (ANTARA) – Deputy Chair of Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) Alex Indra Lukman urged the Indonesian government to prepare a rice export roadmap as national stocks reached 3.53 million tons in late December 2025.

“The challenge we are facing today is to lower production costs and improve quality so that we can compete with other rice-producing nations and seize global market potential,” he said in Jakarta on Sunday.

He noted that regarding the reduction of production costs, an innovative farmer from West Sumatra named Djoni has developed a method called Sawah Pokok Murah (Low-Cost Staple Rice Fields).

According to him, this method has been tested across all districts and cities in West Sumatra, and the yields are comparable to conventional methods despite requiring lower costs overall.

Lukman explained that this technique does not require soil processing, which typically accounts for the highest cost in farming.

Additionally, the method does not require chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or fungicides.

He further said that dry weather is also not a significant obstacle, further reducing the risk of crop failure due to climate factors.

“Despite its hilly topography and lack of vast rice fields, West Sumatra has been rice self-sufficient for a long time,” he added.

Meanwhile, another challenge is addressing the high percentage of broken rice.

This issue, according to him, requires government intervention through the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and sustained research from the academic community.

He added that currently, rice under the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program contains between 25 and 40 percent broken rice.

In contrast, rice from other producing countries in Southeast Asia has a broken rice content of only 5 percent.

“If this issue is not addressed immediately, it will be difficult to penetrate the global rice market,” he warned.

He noted that failing to enter the global market would create significant hurdles for the food self-sufficiency program, which is a key part of President Prabowo Subianto’s Asta Cita missions.

Translator: Mario Sofia, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2026

Published Date: March 8, 2026