Local soybean farmers have produced just 8 percent of national demand over the past five years, according to a senior food official, who also said the government was cooking up a variety of strategies, including a targeted subsidy, to boost output to accelerate its self-sufficiency agenda.
A worker prepares soybeans for processing on Feb. 5, 2026, at a tofu factory in Surabaya, East Java. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
Domestic soybean production has been on a steep, downward trend over the past five years, remaining far below the average national demand of 2.6 million tonnes, according to a senior food official.During a seminar presentation on Monday, Widiastuti, deputy for food and agribusiness coordination at the Office of the Coordinating Food Minister, revealed the country’s soybean production between 2021 and 2026 reached just 190,223 tonnes, or a mere 8.14 percent of total demand.
“And because of this shortfall, there is an average import of roughly 2 million [tonnes] to meet the average demand of 2.6 million [tonnes],” she said, as quoted by Kumparan.
Total production amounted to 78,693 tonnes last year, while the harvest area dropped 11.68 percent to 137 hectares compared to 2024.
