Lampung, May 2, 2026 – Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Zulkifli Hasan, emphasized that subsidized fertilizer distribution has now undergone significant improvements, enabling farmers to obtain fertilizers on time before the planting season. This was confirmed by Minister Zulhas during the “Rembuk Tani” event in Lampung on Saturday (May 2, 2026).

“I received a mandate from the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, to travel across Indonesia three times a week. One of the priorities is ensuring that subsidized fertilizers are distributed on time,” said Minister Zulhas.

During dialogues with farmers in various regions, he also stated that most farmers acknowledged that the fertilizer redemption process is now much easier compared to the past. Subsidized fertilizers can now be redeemed before the planting season begins.

Furthermore, he revealed that following the simplification of regulations, fertilizer absorption increased significantly. These improvements have also had a direct impact on agricultural productivity, with national rice production increasing by up to 8 percent. This achievement has effectively halted rice imports, as Indonesia recorded a surplus in 2025.

Minister Zulhas also expressed appreciation to PT Pupuk Indonesia for its commitment to supporting government policies. The transformation of the subsidy mechanism from a cost-plus scheme to a mark-to-market approach has been considered effective in improving efficiency, thereby creating room to reduce the Highest Retail Price (HET) of fertilizers by up to 20 percent and supporting plans to build seven new fertilizer plants over the next five years.

With these various improvements, the government remains optimistic that the national agricultural sector will become stronger and capable of maintaining sustainable food security.

President Director of Pupuk Indonesia, Rahmad Pribadi, explained that the smooth distribution of subsidized fertilizers and the easier access currently experienced by farmers are the result of swift and appropriate policy improvements implemented by the government.

He added that these changes were made possible due to the government’s responsiveness to field conditions.

“In November 2024, we directly conveyed that farmers needed easier access to redeem fertilizers, as previous regulations were too complex. Within less than one month, the policy was issued and immediately produced tangible impacts,” Rahmad stated.

The policy is stipulated in Presidential Regulation No. 6 of 2025, which was later refined through Presidential Regulation No. 113 of 2025. These regulations represent strategic measures to simplify the distribution and redemption mechanisms for subsidized fertilizers.

“The impact has been highly significant. In several regions, including Lampung, fertilizer redemption increased by as much as 168 percent compared to the same period in the previous year,” he explained.

As of April 30, 2026, subsidized fertilizer redemption realization in Lampung had reached 40 percent, or 282,796 tons out of the total allocation of 713,970 tons. This demonstrates that the right policies can improve farmers’ access to fertilizers while supporting agricultural productivity.

Also attending the Pupuk Indonesia “Rembuk Tani” event were Minister of Trade Budi Santoso, South Lampung Regent Radityo Egi Pratama, and Commander of Military Region XXI/Radin Inten Major General TNI Kristomei Sianturi.

For reference, in 2026 the government set the national subsidized fertilizer allocation at 9.8 million tons, with 9.5 million tons allocated for the agricultural sector and the remainder for the fisheries sector. The agricultural allocation consists of 4.4 million tons of Urea, 4.47 million tons of NPK Phonska, 81 thousand tons of NPK Cocoa, 558 thousand tons of organic fertilizer, and 16.4 thousand tons of ZA fertilizer.