JAKARTA: Domestic soybean production has been on a steep, downward trend over the past five years, remaining far below the average national demand of 2.6 million tonnes, according to a senior government official.
During a seminar presentation on Monday, Widiastuti, deputy for food and agribusiness coordination at the Office of the Coordinating Food Minister, revealed the country’s soybean production between 2021 and 2026 reached just 190,223 tonnes, or a mere 8.14% of total demand.
“And because of this shortfall, there is an average import of roughly two million tonnes to meet the average demand of 2.6 million tonnes,” she said, as quoted by Kumparan.
Total production amounted to 78,693 tonnes last year, while the harvest area dropped 11.68% to 137 ha compared to 2024.
“As of May, we can see that production has reached only around 7,691 tonnes,” Widiastuti added.
She also noted that average production growth over the last few years stood at around 11.4% across soybean cultivation areas nationwide, including Sumatra, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.
Most of the country’s soybean demand is concentrated in the hotel, restaurant and catering sector, which accounts for 95.68% of total consumption of soybeans as a key ingredient in tofu, tempeh and soy sauce.
To accelerate self-sufficiency in the agricultural commodity, Widiastuti said the government was preparing a slew of strategies, from the acquisition of land and provision of high-quality seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, agricultural machinery and equipment as well as irrigation infrastructure to the development of human resources and enhancement of financing and downstream efforts.
“And then there is [the need for] market certainty from the demand side, along with protection against imported soybean.”
One of the government’s latest moves is the planned rollout of a soybean subsidy programme, which aims to shield the domestic market from rising prices due to a weakening rupiah.
Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan revealed the plan in June, pointing out that Indonesia relied heavily on imported soybeans that were experiencing a price surge as a result of the depreciating rupiah and the energy crisis stemming from the United States-Israel war on Iran.
According to Zulkifli, the initial subsidy aims to cover 250,000 tonnes of soybeans while helping to maintain the commodity’s price stability as well as protect businesses, particularly tofu and tempeh producers.
The senior minister estimates the government will need to earmark 500 billion rupiah to fund the first phase of the subsidy program, which is set to cover 2,000 rupiah of every kilogramme of soybeans purchased by food processing companies.
Zulkifli said that the programme was among the directives issued by President Prabowo Subianto, and that the technical details would be handled by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and the Finance Ministry.
Separately, Bulog president director Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani said the agency would need to discuss the initiative further with several other stakeholders.
He also emphasised that the goverment subsidy would be provided specifically for tofu and tempeh producers “to ensure lower prices”.
According to data from the Market and Basic Needs Monitoring System th imported soybean prices on Monday stood at 13,706 rupiah per kg, 14% higher than the reference price of 12,000 per kg as set by the National Food Agency. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
