Minister of Agriculture Bluntly Addresses DPR Calling Gorilla El Nino Terrifying News – 48 minutes ago

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman spoke openly about the terrible impact of the El Nino Gorillas attacking Indonesia to Commission IV of the DPR. Amran said that Gorilla El Nino will have a terrible impact until February 2024.

“This El Nino is no longer an ordinary El Nino, it is no longer super but it has entered Gorilla El Nino, this is the biggest, this will last until February, this is terrible,” said Amran at the DPR Commission IV Building, Senayan, Jakarta, Monday (13/11/ 2023).

Talking about rice, Amran said production this year has fallen. The figure is the same as consumption, namely 30 million tons. This is what made the government finally issue an import permit for 3.5 million tons, of which 2 million tons will have been released in early 2023 and another 1.5 million tons will be additional.

Meanwhile, data from the Ministry of Agriculture in previous years shows that Indonesia’s rice production is in surplus even though it continues to decline from year to year. For example, 2018 had a surplus of 4 million tonnes, 2019 3 million tonnes, 2020 2 million tonnes, 2021 1 million tonnes, and 2022 1 million tonnes.

However, now the problem is that when imports are chosen to increase rice reserves, it is not as easy as imagined. Many countries have chosen to close their rice export taps.

Photo: Indonesian Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman in a Working Meeting with Commission IV DPR RI. (Screenshot of DPR RI Channel’s YouTube Commission IV Channel) Indonesian Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman in a Working Meeting with Commission IV DPR RI. (Screenshot of the DPR RI Channel’s YouTube Commission IV Channel)

“On the one hand, there are restrictions on exports from other countries. You can imagine what would happen if we needed rice and wanted to import it but there wasn’t any,” he said.

So, according to Amran, the only solution that must be taken is to continue to boost domestic rice production.

“The best solution now is to join hands to increase production, there is no other way. There are 22 other countries that have restricted it. Including India, we can import but to this day there is no certainty,” he said.

For this reason, he requested an additional budget (ABT) for the 2023 Fiscal Year of IDR 5.82 trillion. The budget is used to boost rice and corn production by providing machinery and seeds.

“El Nino doesn’t know the budget year, it just comes and goes, so we don’t adapt, the climate adapts to us. If we prepare now, our partners want to be sure whether this will be paid in the tender. If we want to be paid in 2023, if we want to be paid in 2024, it doesn’t matter, the important thing is that we are allowed to sign the contract IDR 5.8 trillion,” explained Amran.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(wur/wur)