Government Strategies to Increase Food Reserves

In 2026, the government will strengthen food and feed reserves managed by several state-owned enterprises. Three of these are rice, cooking oil, and corn for feed. Food commodities that still rely on imports and have volatile prices, such as garlic, will also be reserved.

However, remember. Specifically for rice, the distribution channels also need to be expanded. We must ensure that the quality of the rice does not decline and that it does not need to be disposed of, which would be detrimental to the state.

On Monday (29/12/2025), the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs established the government rice reserve (CBP) for 2026 at 4 million tons. This volume represents an increase from the 2025 CBP, which was 3 million tons.

The government's corn reserves (CJP) in 2026 are also targeted to reach 1 million tons. This target is significantly higher than the CJP set for 2025, which is 300,000 tons.

Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan explained that the 2026 CBP has been enhanced to anticipate fluctuations in rice stocks and prices. In addition, the CBP is also necessary for food assistance or social safety nets and disaster emergencies.

For CJP, the government is also increasing it to anticipate fluctuations in the stock and prices of chicken feed. By 2026, the demand for broiler meat and eggs is expected to rise in line with the increasing number of beneficiaries of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program.

"The rice and corn reserves come from domestic absorption. Therefore, Bulog has been asked to prepare for absorption and its storage warehouses," said Zulkifli.

The Minister of Agriculture and also the Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), Andi Amran Sulaiman, stated that the government aims to absorb 2-2.5 million tons of farmers' unhusked rice equivalent to rice during the rice harvest in 2026. This is intended to strengthen the Food Reserve and simultaneously maintain the price of unhusked rice at a profitable level for farmers.

Currently, the Bulog-managed CBP is very strong and the highest since Indonesia's independence. As of December 29, 2025, the CBP reached 3.39 million tons.

"This is the highest government rice stock in history. Therefore, for 2026, the rice stock is not only secure but very secure," he stated in a press release in Jakarta, Monday (29/12/2025) evening.

In addition to rice, Amran added that the government will also absorb farmers' corn. This effort is also aimed at strengthening the CJP, which is targeted to reach a minimum of 1 million tons next year, and to maintain corn prices at a level that remains profitable for farmers.

This is the highest government rice stock in history. So, for 2026, rice stocks are not just secure, but very secure.

The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) has stated the target for the absorption of rice and corn in line with the potential increase in the production of these two commodities by 2026. Next year, Kementan targets national rice and corn production to reach 34.77 million tons and 18 million tons, respectively.

The Central Statistics Agency estimates that national rice production from January to December 2025 will reach 34.77 million tons. During the same period, the production of dry shelled corn is projected to reach 16.55 million tons.

From the perspective of funding and the number of storage warehouses, there seems to be no cause for concern. This is considering that the government will allocate IDR 22.7 trillion to Bulog through the 2026 State Budget. In addition, in 2026, the government will also roll out a budget of approximately IDR 5 trillion to build 100 Bulog warehouses.

The challenge actually lies in maintaining the quality of the CBP. This is considering that the shelf life of rice is only about four to six months. Remember, this year several parties have warned about the potential disposal of some Bulog rice.

IPB University Faculty of Agriculture Professor Dwi Andreas Santosa estimates that 100,000 tons of Bulog rice will deteriorate and become unfit for consumption (disposal), potentially costing the state Rp 1.2 trillion. Indonesian Ombudsman member Yeka Hendra Fatika projects that 300,000 tons of Bulog rice are at risk of disposal, potentially costing the state Rp 4 trillion (Kompas, August 26, 2025).

In fact, Bapanas itself acknowledged this. In early October 2025, Bapanas stated that 29,990 tons of Bulog rice had deteriorated in quality. The rice that had declined in quality consisted of 3,100 tons from domestic procurement and 26,890 tons from imports or procurement from abroad.

Bapanas also found that 1.45 million tons of imported rice, or 37.95 percent of the total CBP, had been stored for more than six months. Bulog was instructed to reprocess the rice to improve its quality before distribution. If it is truly unfit for consumption, the degraded rice will be auctioned off for animal feed (Kompas, 6/10/2025).

To mitigate this, the distribution channels for CBP need to be expanded. So far, the available channels have only included the Food Supply and Price Stabilization Program (SPHP), food assistance, and aid for disaster victims both domestically and abroad.

In fact, there are seven channels for the distribution of CBP regulated by Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 6 of 2025 concerning the Procurement and Management of Domestic Rice/Grain and the Distribution of CBP. In this Inpres, CBP can also be distributed to civil servants, the military, the police, the MBG program, regional government rice reserves, international cooperation, and foreign food aid.

In addition, rice exports have also become another option for the government. This option must, of course, take into account the domestic rice production-consumption balance and the price of rice in the international market.

In addition to rice and corn, the government is also strengthening the government's cooking oil reserves (CMGP) at Bulog and ID Food. This is done by requiring exporters of certain palm oil derivative products to contribute Minyakita to both state-owned enterprises at a rate of 35 percent of the total realization of the domestic market supply obligation (DMO) for Minyakita.

The policy is regulated in the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 43 of 2025 concerning Packaged Palm Oil and the Management of People's Cooking Oil. This regulation has been in effect since December 26, 2025.

There has been an increase in the realization of DMO Miyakita to state-owned enterprises from an average of 8 percent to 17.8 percent. With the new regulations, the realization of DMO Minyakita to state-owned enterprises could later increase to 35 percent.

The Director of Domestic Market Development at the Directorate of Domestic Trade of the Ministry of Trade, Nawandaru Dwi Putra, stated that in the last four months, the stock of Minyakita managed by state-owned enterprises has increased. One of the main contributing factors is the distribution of food assistance in the form of cooking oil.

From September 1, 2025, to December 29, 2025, the total realization of the DMO Minyakita was 659,577 tons. Of that amount, the total realization of DMO Minyakita to Bulog and ID Food was 116,949 tons, or 17.8 percent of the total DMO realization.

"There has been an increase in the realization of the DMO Miyakita to state-owned enterprises from an average of 8 percent to 17.8 percent. This is still influenced by the distribution of food aid in the form of cooking oil. With the new regulations, the realization of the DMO Minyakita to state-owned enterprises could later increase to 35 percent," he said during the Regional Inflation Control Coordination Meeting, Monday (29/12/2025).

The Ministry of Trade recorded that, so far, the supply of Minyakita from the DMO results to Bulog and ID Food is around 8 percent or 14,262 tons. Through this new regulation, the stock of Minyakita in Bulog and ID Food could reach 63,000 tons or at least 35 percent of the average DMO Minyakita in 2025, which is 178,000 tons.

Nawandaru also revealed that the government is currently discussing a special strategy to maintain the stability of garlic stock and prices. This strategy is necessary because Indonesia has been heavily reliant on imported garlic.

Several strategies currently under discussion include the distribution of imported garlic to local markets. In addition, there is a plan to enforce mandatory garlic planting policies for importers of this commodity in the medium and long term.

"Another strategy is to strengthen the government's garlic reserves. The source of these reserves can come from garlic produced through the mandatory planting policy. With these reserves, the government can mitigate fluctuations in the stock and price of garlic at any time," he stated.