Government to halt clearing forests, boost output from existing paddies
The President's climate and energy envoy told a sustainability forum on Monday that the country had achieved rice self-sufficiency three years earlier than planned, so no additional forests would be cleared to make way for paddies.
The Indonesian government has decided to halt the clearing of forests for rice cultivation, as the country has achieved rice self-sufficiency three years earlier than the planned 2029 target. President Prabowo Subianto's climate and energy envoy, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, announced this during the Indonesia International Sustainability Forum (ISF) 2026 in Jakarta.
The national rice reserve stands at 5.3 million tonnes and is surpassing the storage capacity of state-owned warehouses, leading the government to believe no additional forests are needed for rice cultivation. Instead, the focus is on intensifying existing agricultural land through new rice and soybean varieties and seeds. The government also plans to increase the rice price floor by 50 percent and cut fertilizer costs by 20 percent to boost productivity.
Hashim emphasized plans to achieve soybean self-sufficiency within three years, while acknowledging sugar as a more challenging commodity. The government's energy self-sufficiency agenda includes developing 100 gigawatts of solar capacity and a 7 gigawatt nuclear power program, alongside a biofuel development program.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
