Suswono told a press conference that production target of 72 million tons of rice this year is not a hard target.

"We have strategies to face climate change. We will optimize irrigation and pumping instruments," said Suswono, adding that the ministry will use contingency fund for the purpose.

He said that to maintain production, his ministry will deploy superior seed that is adaptive to climate change.

"Starting this year, we target to create new rice field of 100,000 hectares while state-run companies focusing on agriculture will create another 100,000 hectares," he said.