Indonesia’s 2023 rice output down 2% as drought hits
INDONESIA’S 2023 rice output is expected to drop by 2 per cent to 30.90 million tonnes, as extreme dry weather driven by the El Nino weather pattern affects its harvests, the country’s statistics bureau said on Monday (Oct 16).
The prediction was based on output data as at August and an estimate for harvests in September to December, said Statistics Indonesia.
“Prolonged drought caused by El Nino has resulted in planting and harvesting failure in many areas,” acting bureau chief Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti told a press conference.
The rice harvest area for 2023 was estimated at 10.2 million hectares, down from 10.45 million hectares a year ago.
Indonesia imported 1.79 million tonnes of rice in the January-to-September period, data showed, up from 288,707 tonnes in the same period last year. The biggest shipments came from Thailand, followed by Vietnam, India, Pakistan and Myanmar.
South-east Asia’s biggest economy planned to import an additional 1.5 million tonnes of rice in 2023 – on top of an import quota of 2.3 million tonnes issued earlier this year – to top up government rice reserves to cool rising prices of the staple food.
Indonesia produced 31.54 million tonnes of rice in 2022.
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