Women peeling garlic imported from China in Tanah Sareal, Bogor, West Java, in this file photo. - JP/ANN
JAKARTA: The government aims to make Indonesia self-sufficient in garlic before the end of the decade, stepping up efforts to reduce import dependence.
Garlic is a staple ingredient in many Indonesian dishes, but roughly 95 percent of the country’s consumption is currently met through imports.
To kick off the plan, officials have prepared high-quality garlic seeds across three regions, namely Humbang Hasundutan in North Sumatra, Central Java, and Sembalun in West Nusa Tenggara, to support cultivation, according to the Office of the Coordinating Food Minister.
Sugeng Harmono, assistant undersecretary for food reserves and food assistance to the coordinating food minister, said on Tuesday (Jan 20) that the government was confident that these efforts would safeguard the country’s food supply and cut import dependence for key commodities, building on the achievements in efforts for rice self-sufficiency.
“The continuation of rice self-sufficiency this year is guaranteed, and we are optimistic that garlic and other staples will follow the same path,” said Harmono, as quoted by Kompas.id.
Earlier this month, President Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia’s rice production had met all domestic demand, achieving self-sufficiency just over a year since he took office in October 2024. National rice production reached 34.71 million tonnes in 2025, up 13.36 per cent from 2024, according to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
Indonesia last achieved rice self-sufficiency in 2008, and before that in the mid-1980s. At the start of 2026, the government’s rice reserves (CBP) held by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) stood at 3.2 million tonnes, with plans to acquire another 4 million tonnes from farmers this year, bringing total reserves to around 7.2 million tonnes.
Garlic self-sufficiency is part of a broader government push to strengthen food self-sufficiency across staples, including feed corn, soybean and sugar.
The initiative follows a directive from President Prabowo to replicate Indonesia’s success in reaching garlic self-sufficiency in 1995.
Between 2021 and 2025, imports of the ingredient amounted to about 2.74 million tonnes, according to the Agriculture Ministry’s export-import commodity database.
From January to November 2025, Indonesia imported 450,338 tonnes of garlic, down from 555,886 tonnes in 2024.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Sudaryono previously said the country would need around 100,000 hectares of land to achieve national garlic self-sufficiency.
The government would also strengthen its food reserves (CPP) in 2026, covering 10 commodities: rice, feed corn, soybeans, poultry and eggs, beef and buffalo meat, sugar, cooking oil, as well as mackerel, Harmono said.
Targets for 2026 reserves include 4 million tonnes of rice, 1 million tonnes of feed corn, 70,000 tonnes of soybean, 12,100 tonnes of chicken, 5,000 tonnes of eggs, 180,000 tonnes of beef, 100,000 tonnes of buffalo meat, 275,000 tonnes of sugar, 790,000 tonnes of cooking oil and 300 tonnes of mackerel. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
