Indonesia not import rice for third consecutive year
The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) of Indonesia on December 28 reported that the Southeast Asian nation did not import rice for the third year in a row.
Indonesia does not import rice for the third consecutive year. (Photo: )
Jakarta (VNA) - The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) of Indonesiaon December 28 reported that the Southeast Asian nation did not import rice for the third year in a row.
According to President and Director of Bulog Budi Waseso, the agency had purchased1.2 million tonnes of rice from local farmers until theend of 2021 to ensure the procurement of the government's rice reserve,so it is not necessary to buy reserve rice from abroad.
The domestic rice purchase is really helpful forIndonesian farmers who face difficulty in selling their rice during the COVID-19pandemic and also helps maintain the government's achievement of not importingrice for the last three years, he said.
Budi cited the StatisticsIndonesia (BPS)’s data, saying that thenational rice production was predicted to reach 11.61 million tonnes in thefirst quarter of 2022.
Bulog will always be ready to purchase domestic rice in order to maintain pricestability in the markets, he added.
Budi said other than adding stocks of thegovernment's rice reserve, the absorption of unhusked rice from local farmerscould drive the rural economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout 2021, Bulog had also maintained rice price stability at the consumer level by carrying out marketoperations dubbed KPSH (the availability of supply and price stabilization), henoted./.
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Indonesia does not import rice for the third consecutive year. (Photo: ) 
