Indonesia secures rice price stability with 5.2 million‑ton reserves

The National Food Agency (Bapanas) confirmed that Indonesia’s strategic rice reserves have reached 5.2 million tonnes, enabling the government to keep the Rice Price Development Index largely within the medium‑grade retail price ceiling. As of early July 2026, only 55 districts showed price indexes above the ceiling, down from 138 a month earlier.

Since January, 1.36 million tonnes of rice from the reserves have been used in price‑stabilisation and food‑assistance programmes, with an additional 997,300 tonnes slated for distribution in the three‑month assistance cycle starting July 2026, bringing total assistance to at least 1.66 million tonnes for the year. Over 5,573 cheap‑food market events have been held across 37 provinces to further curb consumer prices.

In parallel, the government is advancing agricultural policies to boost productivity and safeguard arable land. In Bengkulu Tengah, rice yields average 4.5‑5 tonnes per hectare, and officials aim to raise output to 10 tonnes per hectare through the PMAS programme. Ministers Zulkifli Hasan, Nusron Wahid and Andi Amran Sulaiman have pledged to protect paddy fields from conversion and to intensify land optimisation.

State grain corporation Bulog is also preparing a new branded rice product, “Beras Kita,” in premium and medium varieties, targeting a production volume of about 2 million tonnes by mid‑2025, pending government approval on pricing and distribution.