The price of bird’s eye chili, a key culinary ingredient in the country as many Indonesians like to sweat from eating spicy food, typically always rises during each rainy season. But this time, the commodity has jumped to Rp 150,000 (US$11.20) per kilogram, five-fold its ceiling level of Rp 29,000.

The current price surge is even worse than the last peak in December 2014 when the commodity was sold at up to Rp 60,000 per kg, economists have observed.

Unfortunately, the problems are projected to repeat on an annual basis: its price will continue to climb in the wet season as chilis rot faster during this time of the year, causing bad harvests and supply shortages, unless the government can find innovative solutions to deal with the conditions.

The Agriculture Ministry has actually rolled out several programs, including a chili planting movement, through which it provided 50 million chili seedlings for free to thousands of households nationwide late last year.

It has also funded thousands of farmers to bring down production costs in exchange for reasonably priced chilies to stabilize market prices through the “champion farmers” program.

This year, the government has allocated Rp 457.5 billion worth of assistance, including tools and seedlings, for chili farmers to help cultivate 15,000 hectares of land, in turn for scheduled planting and fair-priced harvests to balance stocks during the rainy season.

However, Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) economist Dwi Andreas considered the programs a waste of state budget as chili is a weather-sensitive commodity and despite the planting pattern, the wet season would always hamper production and limit supply.

“What the government can do is to help farmers plant when the seasons aren’t favorable through technology, like greenhouses, as well as being provided with sufficient water supply during the dry season,” he said.

Tunov Mondro Atmojo, a chili farmer from Magelang, Central Java, said the greenhouse method was the best solution thus far as it allowed for all-season cultivation.

“Greenhouses protect the plants from too much rain or pests and we can also control the water during the dry season so harvest can be better predicted,” he said.

Farmers can reap 7 tons of chili in greenhouses compared to 5 tons from conventional farming methods, although greenhouses require significant initial capital of Rp 20 million per 1,000 square meter.

The Agriculture Ministry’s horticulture director general, Spudnik Sujono, viewed greenhouses as a good idea to consider. But in the short term, what the government could do was to visit fields and urge farmers to sell chilies at affordable prices.

“[Current] production is sufficient but there’s a kind of false expectation that prices will be high for certain periods so farmers from the outset sell at an expensive level,” Spudnik said, adding that in some places, like in Manado, North Sulawesi, the price at the farmers’ level remained low at Rp 17,000 per kg.

In contrast, in other places like Greater Jakarta and Kalimantan and West Java, prices have climbed over Rp 150,000 per kg with traditional sellers and consumers, in the end, becoming the victims.

Siswanto, a 58-year-old noodle seller in Ciputat, South Tangerang, said he had no choice but to add more water and chili powder to make chili paste.

“I can’t afford losing customers should I jack up the noodle price,” he said.

Popular

Stocks in Asia rise, yen wobbles after volatile start to week

In Numbers: How women fare in Indonesia

Indonesia may offer dual citizenship to attract overseas workers, minister says