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Fall in rice output tests Jokowi's food vision
Farmers reported declining rice production throughout last year, indicating a challenging test for President Joko âJokowiâ Widodoâs goal to secure the domestic rice supply without imports
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Farmers reported declining rice production throughout last year, indicating a challenging test for President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's goal to secure the domestic rice supply without imports.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Monday that total output estimates, harvest area and farmers' productivity in the rice sector all declined in 2014 from the previous year.
Latest BPS data show that total rice-production estimates declined 450,000 tons year-on-year to 70.8 million tons in 2014, a sharp turnaround from a 2.2 million ton increase posted the previous year.
The declining rice production last year was due mostly to seasonal factors such as bad weather, BPS deputy head for statistics Sasmito Hadi Wibowo told a press briefing.
Whether the new government could achieve its future goal to secure food supply without imports, Sasmito said, would depend on whether it could realize the farming infrastructure projects planned for this year.
The Jokowi administration has vowed to improve farming infrastructure as the President seeks to strengthen domestic food supply to make the nation less reliant on imports. His plan includes an ambitious project to build 49 new dams over five years to improve irrigation for local farmers.
Total output of rice, the main staple food for Indonesia's citizens, is targeted by Jokowi to rise to 82 million tons by the end of 2019, up more than 15 percent or by 11.2 million tons from the current level.
In the corresponding period, corn production is expected to hit 23.4 million tons from the current rate of 19 million tons, while soybean production is hoped to reach 1 million from 953,000 tons.
Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said Monday that he was still optimistic about the food sovereignty goal, citing the government's planned support to local farmers in order to boost their productivity.
'We plan the involvement of the TNI [the Indonesian Military] and its Babinsa unit [non-commissioned officers assigned to villages] to safeguard the distribution of seeds and fertilizers and to help local farmers,' he said at his Jakarta office.
'There will be a systematic effort to boost rice production.'
In its efforts to bolster the domestic food supply, the new government is hampered not only by declining rice output, but also by the prevalence of traders illicitly manipulating rice prices in the market.
This year, rice prices in certain areas of Indonesia have already surged more than 30 percent, with Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel blaming the issue on a 'rice mafia' looking to push the government to open stalled imports.
On Monday, the BPS revealed a finding that justified suspicions that unscrupulous traders were hoarding rice stockpiles to benefit from higher prices.
Despite the increase in rice prices in the market, the price of unhusked rice (gabah) produced by local farmers fell to Rp 4,922 (0.37 US cents) per kilogram in February from Rp 5,357 per kg a month earlier, the statistics agency reported.
'Some traders are reaping huge profits here, as they manage to buy rice at low prices from farmers and sell it at high prices,' said the BPS' Sasmito.
He argued that the government's decision not to import rice was the correct move, as an influx of imports would only serve to push down the value of unhusked rice sold by local farmers, eventually affecting their welfare and purchasing power.
