Jakarta – Indonesian rice exports in the premium and special categories have increased sharply in the last four years. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in 2017, the volume of rice exports in this category reached 3,433 tons or an increase of more than 2,540 percent compared to the export achievement in 2014 which was only around 130 tons.
The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) estimates that premium and special rice exports will increase again. Based on data from the Directorate General of Food Crops (Ditjen TP) of the Ministry of Agriculture, until last August, the export volume of premium and special categories of rice had reached 3,069 tons.
“The achievement of this rice export performance proves that the government is not only focused on increasing rice to strengthen the government’s rice reserves, but also trying to develop rice for special market segments,” said Director of Processing and Marketing of Food Crops Gatut Sumbogodjati in a press statement, Thursday. (4/10).
The Ministry of Agriculture through the Directorate General of TP continues to encourage the development of premium and special rice through a number of programs, including the application of technology to increase productivity, as well as the provision of agricultural tools and machinery.
Provision of agricultural tools and machinery such as tractors, water pumps, and planting aids used for production. Meanwhile, Combine Harvester is used to reduce yield loss and accelerate the harvesting process. “We also facilitate organic rice certification, as well as provide assistance with post-harvest Rice Milling Unit (RMU), packing, and dryers,” added Gatut.
Indonesian rice, said Gatut, has succeeded in entering foreign markets, including Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the United States. The exported rice consists of organic rice, black rice, brown rice, black glutinous rice, as well as premium rice of types of fragrant pandan, fragrant mentik, and several other types of local premium rice.
