HKTI gives a nod to rice, sugar import plan

The Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) said it could understood the government’s plan to import rice, sugar and wheat to facilitate food security amid the threat of crops failure due to negative impacts of climate change.

However, the HKTI said the government also had to take concrete measures to support the national program for rice self-sufficiency.

HKTI chairman Prabowo Subianto said the government had to be clear about rice, sugar and wheat imports to avoid undermining the incomes of 80 million farmers.

“HKTI could understand the government’s plan to import rice and sugar but this must be done only as a temporary measure to ensure political stability. The import also must not affect the domestic products’ prices,” Prabowo, also the founder of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra)  said after the inauguration of HKTI’s patron board  on Thursday.

Minister Agriculture Suswono said recently to Commission IV on agriculture, plantation and forestry at the House that government had no other choice but to import rice, sugar and wheat to maintain the food security until December 2010.

The rice import plan also met with strong reactions from the House and the Golkar Party which attacked  government for failing to deal with climate change impacts.

Firman Subagyo chairing the House’s commission said that the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) had misled the public with information that the country’s food stocks  were safe until December 2010.

“This indicates the government is not professional and not honest,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Indonesia needs 32.7 million tons of rice annually and the rice stock until December is less than the required 10 percent. He said the commission could not prohibit the imports but we do not want the people to suffer from starvation.

HKTI and the House commission agreed government should try to reduce fertilizers prices, introduce water-resistant paddy seeds and end the conversion of productive land for housing and industrial estates.

Both sides urged the government to continue the subsidies for farmers to purchase chemical fertilizers and anti-pest sprays.