JAKARTA: Indonesia is strengthening its national food reserves ahead of a potential severe El Nino expected from April as authorities move to safeguard food supply and stabilise prices amid risks of prolonged drought.
Locally dubbed the 'Godzilla' El Nino, the phenomenon could be intensified by a positive Indian Ocean Dipole and potentially lead to a longer and drier dry season in Indonesia, according to the National Research and Innovation Agency.
National Food Agency (Bapanas) deputy for food availability and stabilisation, I Gusti Ketut Astawa, said reserves of key staples remain sufficient, particularly those managed by state-owned enterprises such as Bulog and ID FOOD, with rice accounting for the largest share.
"The prediction of a ‘Godzilla’ El Nino has become a concern for the government,” he said, adding that measures are in place to strengthen food reserves following directives from Bapanas head Andi Amran Sulaiman.
"We are ensuring that the resilience of government food reserves continues to be strengthened so that when needed, they can be immediately distributed to assist the public,” he said, as reported by Antara news agency on Wednesday (March 25) night.
Astawa said rice reserves at Bulog stood at 4.08 million tonnes as of March 25, up 77.8 per cent from 2.29 million tonnes at end-March last year.
Other reserves are also being strengthened, including corn, cooking oil, sugar, beef or buffalo meat, chicken and eggs, he said.
"Most of the supply comes from domestic production as Bulog has carried out rice-equivalent procurement since the beginning of 2026 until today, reaching 1.24 million tonnes,” he said.
Astawa said corn reserves stand at around 144,000 tonnes, with domestic procurement reaching 101,960 tonnes this year.
Other reserves include cooking oil at 95,000 kilolitres and sugar stocks at 50,000 tonnes. Beef or buffalo meat and chicken reserves at 11,000 tonnes and 39 tonnes respectively, are largely managed by ID FOOD, while egg stocks of 62 tonnes are managed by Bulog. - Bernama
