SECRETARY General (Sekjen) of the Indonesian Farmers’ Harmony Association (HKTI), Sadar Subagyo, assessed that the rice import policy implemented by the government is currently effective in maintaining food price stability and farmers’ welfare. According to him, this import step will only have an impact on inflation if it is carried out when domestic rice production has decreased.
“This rice import policy is very effective. It has been proven that with imports, the price of grain at the farmer level is still above the Cost of Production (HPP),” said Sadar when asked about the government’s performance in regulating the volume of rice imports according to domestic needs, Wednesday ( 2/10).
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Furthermore, Sadar emphasized that the government through the National Food Agency (Bapanas) had paid attention to the welfare of farmers in formulating rice import policies. The grain HPP regulations implemented by Bapanas are considered to be very helpful to farmers because the calculations are based on real grain production costs and have been adjusted to reasonable profits.
“The HPP regulations from Bapanas really help farmers. The HPP calculation structure for grain takes into account the real costs of production and reasonable profits for farmers,” he explained.
Sadar revealed that the rice commodity balance is currently in very good condition due to the government’s efforts to keep the rice import policy in line with the national food self-sufficiency target. This allows the government to predict exactly when imports need to be made. With the right policies, rice imports are expected to maintain a balance between food supply and prices, without sacrificing self-sufficiency targets or the welfare of farmers in Indonesia.
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“The rice commodity balance is currently in very good condition, so it can be predicted exactly when imports should be made,” he added.
Meanwhile, the General Chairperson of Perpadi, Sutarto Alimoeso, added that rice imports were actually carried out because domestic supplies were insufficient to meet people’s needs, not for commercial purposes. According to him, these imports are not the cause of inflation, especially because imported rice is sold below the Highest Retail Price (HET) and is intended as food aid through the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program.
“Rice imports are not the cause of inflation. The aim of imports is to ensure food availability and stabilize prices through the SPHP program, where rice is sold below market prices,” he said.
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Sutarto also suggested that imported rice not be released into the market during the harvest period so that the market can be filled with domestically produced rice first. “At harvest time, farmers’ hope is that imported rice should not be released yet, so that the market will be filled with domestic rice,” he added.
He also explained that the decline in rice production was not only caused by the El Nino phenomenon, but had also occurred since 2018 due to land conversion, fragmentation and expensive land rentals.
“Every year there is a decrease in harvest area, which has an impact on production. Apart from that, the irrigation network has not been touched,” he said.
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He emphasized that the main problem in rice production lies in the availability of land and irrigation networks that are not yet optimal.
“So far, policy implementation in the field has not been well consolidated and synchronized,” he said.
According to Sutarto, the indicator for the success of rice imports is that the success of the rice import policy can be seen from several indicators, such as accuracy in quantity, time, distribution, affordable prices, and suitability to targets.
“This import is carried out for stabilization. It will be successful if the distribution is even and the price is affordable according to the plan,” he concluded. (Fal/M-4)
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