Surabaya, E. Java (ANTARA) – Indonesia has recorded the highest national rice stocks in history at 5.3 million tons, according to Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman.

“Thank God, today we have reached our highest stock level in history, at 5.3 million tons. Hopefully, by the end of the month, it continues increase to 5.5 million tons. This is the highest level since the Republic’s independence,” Amran said here on Wednesday.

He stated that with these substantial stocks, farmers’ welfare has significantly improved, with the highest farmer exchange rate in 33 years – according to the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data.

He also mentioned that the GDP of the agricultural sector jumped from 0.67 percent to 5.7 percent during President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.

“Now it is up 5.7 percent, the highest in 25 years and perhaps the highest in history,” Amran noted.

Meanwhile, citing both data from the BPS as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), he stated that Indonesia’s national rice production is around 34.6 million tons, with a surplus of around 4 million tons.

He compared the current rice stock levels to those during President Soeharto’s era in 1984, when Indonesia received an FAO award for its 2.6 million tons of national rice stocks.

With over 5 million tons of current rice stocks, the state-owned logistics company Bulog needs to rent additional warehouses to store the stocks.

Langgeng Wisnu Adinugroho, head of Bulog’s East Java Region, said that his office continues to increase warehousing capacity to accommodate the increasing food stocks during the harvest season.

Currently, Bulog East Java has 223 warehouses, of which 190 of them are rented, with a total capacity of 650,000 tons.

He explained that the occupancy rate of these rented warehouses has now reached around 80 percent. If demand for unhusked rice and rice remains high during the harvest season, Bulog will add more rented warehouses.

Published Date: May 13, 2026