Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo guarantees sufficient stocks of food commodities to meet national needs ahead of the trend of increasing demand during Ramadan and Eid 2023.
“So far, according to our balance sheet, all (food commodities) are safe,” said Minister of Agriculture Syahrul at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Friday.
In addition to staples such as rice, he added, food commodities that require imports such as soybeans are also sufficient.
“Including, of course, commodities that are import substitutes, including soybeans, for example, from our balance because everything is running,” he said.
Several other commodities that need to be imported to meet national food needs such as garlic and meat, said Syahrul, are also in the procurement stages according to the government’s plan. Therefore, said Syahrul, all food stocks are still safe ahead of Ramadan.
“Importation is of course still on the track. I’m sure it’s safe for Ramadan,” he said.
Regarding rice, Syahrul also reported that all production areas had entered the main harvest in February, March and April 2023.
For February, he said, one million hectares of paddy fields will enter harvest, followed by March 2023, 1.9 million hectares of land will enter harvest.
According to him, from March to April 2023, various regions will enter the peak of the harvest. Syahrul said rice production at the peak of the harvest would reach at least 5.9 million tons.
“The average is 5.9 (million tons) from the existing data, which we have used as a reference. Even though the various varieties we are using now are more than that. However, we are using the lowest 5.9 (million tons) BPS data,” he said. (mhn/bbs)
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