Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia is currently holding the largest national rice reserve in its history, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman announced Sunday, emphasizing that there is no structural justification for any domestic food shortages.With government rice stocks soaring to an unprecedented 5.3 million tons in early June 2026, the country’s storage infrastructure is overflowing.The sheer volume has forced the government to rent external storage space for 2.3 million tons beyond the State Logistics Agency's (Bulog) standard 3-million-ton warehouse capacity.”We have an abundance of rice. All our warehouses are currently full. This is the highest stock level since Indonesia's independence,” Amran, who also leads the National Food Agency (Bapanas), said in his statement.To prevent artificial scarcity and market speculation, the minister requested the Indonesian National Police Food Task Force (Satgas Pangan Polri) and the Directorates of Special Crimes across Indonesia to execute market monitoring and enforce legal action against price manipulation.“Do not play around with it on the ground as we have asked the Task Force to go to the field. There are not shortages,” the minister warned traders and distributors attempting to hoard supply or artificially inflate market prices.Indonesia's significant agricultural yield was recently reflected in the May 2026 Rice Outlook report issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).The USDA revised its global rice production forecast for the 2025-2026 period upward by 1.5 million tons, moving from 541.3 million tons in April to 542.8 million tons in May.The report identified Indonesia as a primary driver of the global production increase, alongside Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Vietnam. Among these nations, Indonesia remains the largest producer, with a total annual output exceeding 30 million tons.In comparison, Vietnam recorded 26.2 million tons, Nigeria 5.9 million tons and Ivory Coast 1.7 million tons.In a bid to stabilize consumer access, Bapanas’ Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilization I Gusti Ketut Astawa urged Bulog to leverage its commercial premium rice brands to eliminate localized supply gaps reported in modern retail outlets.”We checked the field and saw that there are still some (gaps) in modern retail stores. This is a golden opportunity for Bulog to step in with its commercial brands like Befood, Punokawan, and Setra Ramos to fill the supply gap,” Astawa explained.Bapanas data as of June 12, 2026, indicated that Bulog's commercial rice stock stood at 11.4 thousand tons, with total ongoing commercial procurement hitting 45.5 thousand tons out of an aggregate procurement framework of 3.1 million tons.