Jakarta. Indonesia's rice production will hit a record high of 13.95 million tons in the first four months of 2025, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Rice is a staple food in the populous Indonesia. There is even a saying that Indonesians will not feel full if they have not eaten rice. This grain is always on the menu in the government's free lunch program, although some schools have tried to experiment with sweet potatoes.

Despite its massive popularity, Indonesia imports its rice, although plans are underway for the country to stop buying from overseas starting this year. The latest BPS report shows that nationwide rice production is on a double-digit rise, thus possibly paving the way for Indonesia to actually ditch imports.

"Rice production is estimated to amount to 13.95 million tons in January-April 2025. ... This is the highest production level that the country has ever seen in the same fourth month period over the past seven years since 2019," BPS' chief Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti told a hybrid press briefing in Jakarta.

The monthly production would reach 5.48 million tons in March alone before it would slightly drop to 4.97 million tons next month.

The output had also grown 25.99 percent from the 11.07 million tons produced in the first four months of 2024. The figures recorded in early 2024 were also the lowest since 2018. In January-April 2019, rice production had totaled 13.63 million tons. This was still quite a decline compared to the same period the previous year when production topped 14 million tons.

According to media reports, the government remains upbeat that Indonesia can produce 32 million tons of rice this year. National demand for this grain is expected hit 31 million tons. In other words, this will leave a 1 million ton surplus that the country could add to its supplies. This would also mean that Jakarta would not need to buy foreign-grown rice in 2025.

BPS previously announced that Indonesia had imported 4.52 million tons of rice last year. They mainly came from fellow ASEAN members: Thailand (1.36 million tons), Vietnam (1.25 million tons), and Myanmar (831,380 tons). Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Ta Van Thong told reporters not long ago that Jakarta would eventually go back to importing its rice amid plans to stop import. Climate change could cause supplies to run out and eventually prompt Indonesia to buy Vietnamese rice again.

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