The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) says there is no need for people in East Java to worry about a lack of rice supplies ahead of the Idul Fitri celebrations, stating there is sufficient stock for 11 months.
East Java's Bulog head Sutono said the rice stocks would still be sufficient even though his office had to distribute some of its stock to regions outside Java Island including Papua, Sulawesi, Sumatera and Kalimantan.
"Up to Sept. 7, our stock was 577,841 tons and the average distribution is only about 50 tons monthly," Sutono said, adding the total rice distributed to other regions so far was 440,000 tons.
He said this year's projection for rice stocks in the province was 1.2 million tons, or 23 percent higher than that of previous years, of only 975,000 tons, and had already reached 81 percent or 1,066,711 tons.
"Although some regions experienced drought this year, I'm still optimistic the projected supply will be met, especially as 34 percent of the regions have had good harvests," he said recently. However, one had to be alert to the possibility of El Ni*o, which would certainly disrupt rice production, as in 2007, El Ni*o caused a six-week delay in harvesting, he said.
Head of the East Java Agricultural Agency Wibowo Ekoputro shared Sutono's view, saying this year's drought did not affect the province's rice production; of some 1.7 million hectares of rice fields, only 1,878 experienced drought. "The drought was not due to El Ni*o but purely because of a decrease in the water distributed by the dams due to the drought," Wibowo said.
Sutono said his office had yet to plan a market operation for rice, mostly because the commodity price was considered stable and a slight rise would not have significant impact. However, rice distribution for the poor, popularly called raskin, would be accelerated this month to prevent a rice shortage among those with low incomes. Field observation showed super quality rice selling for up to Rp 6,100/kilogram, while that of the lowest quality was Rp 5,200/kilogram.
Imam Tohari, a rice trader at Pasar Bendul Merisi traditional market in Surabaya, said the rice price had risen only Rp 100 to 300 a kilogram. "The rice price usually increases significantly only three to four days before Idul Fitri," he said.
