Jakarta. The government is planning to increase Indonesia’s rice reserves from 2 million to 2.5 million tons next year, according to Chief Food Affairs Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

Zulkifli said that the bigger rice reserves would boost people’s confidence in the country’s food supplies. Raising the reserve target would also mean that the government would absorb more rice from farmers.

“The government rice reserves stand at 2 million tons, but we will [propose] to Mr. President [Prabowo Subianto] to increase it to 2.5 million tons,” Zulkifli told reporters in Jakarta on Monday, as reported by the state news agency Antara.

“We are fully aware of how Prabowo considers food self-sufficiency a priority. That’s why the government food reserves are crucial,” the minister said.

Indonesia, which considers rice as its staple food, is keeping its fingers crossed that it will not have to rely on imports by next year. Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman has set an ambitious rice production target of 32 million tons by 2025. Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data shows that the nationwide rice production for 2024 is estimated to reach 30.34 million tons. This marks a 2.43 percent decline compared to last year’s production of 31.10 million tons.