Indonesia still imports special rice from abroad to meet the domestic market.
President Joko Widodo stated that Indonesia had not imported rice for the past three years after previously importing 1.5-2 million tons of rice annually.
He hopes that this achievement can be maintained and even increased by boosting the productivity of domestic rice farmers.
"What we usually import is 1.5 million to 2 million tons per year, for the past 3 years we have not. This must be maintained, thankfully we can increase the stock. This means that farmers' productivity must be increased," said Jokowi at the 5th National Working Meeting. Projo, quoted from Palti West's YouTube account, Saturday (21/5/2022).
Nevertheless, Jokowi acknowledged that Indonesia is still importing special rice from abroad, such as typical Japanese, Korean and Indian rice for consumption by these citizens in Indonesia.
"Even though there are imports, they are small, but they are special rice," said the former mayor of Solo. Jokowi continued, the price of rice in Indonesia is also below the average, which is Rp 10,700 per kilogram.
He compared the price of rice in South Korea at Rp 53,000 per kilogram, Rp 52,000 kilogram in the United States, and Rp 18,000 per kilogram in the Philippines.
"This is something we should be grateful for and we haven't imported rice for the past 3 years, the name of which has not imported rice for three years," said Jokowi. (Palti West, kompas)
