Among the commodities registering the biggest price increases are garlic, up 52 percent, salt (28 percent), sugar (10 percent), cooking oil (5 percent) and chicken (4 percent).

Arifin Hariadi, head of the East Java Trade and Industry Agency's domestic trade division, said Friday that other foods had increased in price by 1 to 5 percent, including fruit and vegetables.

Apples, however, have shot up in price by 23 percent.

"There has always been a surge in prices during Ramadan, due to increasing demand," Arifin said.

"The increases we've seen so far are within the reasonable range."

The price hike for garlic is the main concern of his office, he went on, and was triggered by increased prices in the produce's markets of origin - New Zealand and China - where prices had gone up 300 percent.

"Most of the garlic sold in East Java is imported from those two countries," Arifin said.

Just as critical, he added, was the hike in the sugar price. At the retail level, particularly in Surabaya, the price has exceeded Rp 9,000 per kilogram, much higher than the normal price of between Rp 7,000 and Rp 7,500 per kilogram.

The price hike, Arifin said, was puzzling because the sugarcane harvest in the province had just ended, meaning supply should have been abundant.

Rationally, he pointed out, the ideal retail price for sugar should be Rp 7,500 per kilogram.

However, Adig Siswanto, corporate secretary of state plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) XI, said the increase in price was not unexpected, with Ramadan coinciding with the prolonged dry season.

He added another factor was the sharp fall in the sugarcane harvest in India, from where much of the sugar in East Java is imported.

Under normal conditions, Adig said, India exported 3 million tons of sugar, but a drought there meant sugar had to be imported from elsewhere.

"So it's understandable for the price of sugar globally to increase sharply," he said.

Arum Sabil, chairman of the Indonesian Sugarcane Farmers Association (APTRI), said Friday there was no need to worry about the increase in the price of the commodity.

He said it would push farmers and mill operators to increase productivity and help meet the nationwide demand for sugar.

Arum added the high demand and low productivity had led to the price increase, and said he hoped sugarcane farmers would learn a lesson and be motivated to expand their plantations.

"This is the right moment for it," he said.

To keep food prices in check, Arifin said, raids on markets were ineffective.

The ideal way to deal with the situation, he went on, was by setting up cheap markets in cooperation with the province's 38 regencies and municipalities, as well as food producers and distributors.

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