Farmers cleaning grains from their harvest in Sindangkasih, Ciamis District, West Java, on Thursday (May 6, 2024). ANTARA FOTO/Adeng Bustomi/wpa Malang, E Jawa (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Agriculture is maximizing efforts to increase rice production amid the challenges that have caused a reduction in production in 2023. Head of the Agricultural Extension and Human Resource Development Agency (BPPSDMP) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dedi Nursyamsi, pointed out in Malang District, East Java, Wednesday, that the long dry season in 2023 reduced national rice production.
“National rice production in 2023 decreased significantly. That year, our rice production was only 30.2 million tons, down from the previous year of 31.
5 million tons,” he explained. According to Nursyamsi, the domestic demand for rice per month was recorded at 2.6 million tons, requiring a harvest area of one million hectares.
He noted that based on records from the Ministry of Agriculture, in March and April 2024, the planting area in Indonesia was less than one million hectares. The planting area during that period was recorded at only 800-900 thousand hectares. “This means, this June, our planting area must not be less than 1.
1 million hectares,” he remarked. He noted that in an effort to increase the planting area, the ministry had made several efforts through strategic programs, namely optimizing swamp land, conducting water pumping in rain-fed rice fields, and implementing the Tumpang Sisip Padi G.