Julian Isaac

Minister of Agriculture, Amran Sulaiman, reveals that West, Central, and East Java are key provinces in achieving the government’s target of rice self-sufficiency in 2025, with around 60 percent of national rice production originating from these three locations.

The Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs cited that the total primary to tertiary irrigation network in East Java will be channeled for rice fields covering an area of 296,285 hectares (ha) this year, an equivalent to 8.66 percent of the total irrigation network developed this year which reaches 3.41 million ha.

Amran noted that the planting index (IP)  in East Java reached 1.6 points or 1.6 times rice harvest in a year.

He cited that the government plans to boost the IP in West Java and Central Java this year, targeted at increasing the domestic rice supply to 4 million tons (mt) by 2025.

“This is what we are pursuing. Thus, the mainstay of rice self-sufficiency in East Java is the construction of irrigation networks for rice fields of almost 300 thousand hectares (ha),” Amran said on Tuesday, January 7, 2025.

The National Food Agency (Bapanas) noted that rice production throughout 2024 reached 30.41 mt. This figure is lower by around 510 thousand tons from last year’s consumption realization which reached 30.91 mt.

By increasing IP in West Java, Central Java, and East Java, national rice production is expected to increase by more than 34 million tons. This can be achieved by focusing on building irrigation so that the target of rice self-sufficiency becomes a reality in 2025.

Published Date: January 8, 2025