Jakarta. Indonesia mulls importing 2 million tons of rice from Thailand as the price of the staple food crop continues to rise.

According to the National Food Agency (Bapanas), Indonesia will only proceed with the plan if it fails to produce enough rice to meet the domestic consumption. The import will also require President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s approval.

“This is an anticipatory measure, which we will decide on in our meetings, but of course, the [import plans] will have to be approved by the president and related ministers,” Bapanas secretary Sarwo Edhy said in Bandung over the weekend.

“But we would not have to import if we are able to produce enough [rice],” Sarwo said.

The National Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that Thailand was Indonesia’s largest supplier of rice in January 2024. Indonesia at the time imported a total of 433,000 tons of rice. About 237,000 tons of those imports came from Thailand.

Sarwo attributed today’s rice price hikes to the increased production costs as well as the El Nino climate pattern which caused a delay in the harvest time. 

“Production costs and fertilizer prices are rising. El Nino has caused droughts and water supply shortages. This takes a toll on the harvests, so that is why the price of [rice] is going up,” Sarwo said.

Sarwo ruled out the nearing Ramadhan time and hoarding as what led to the rising prices.

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