Joining the chorus of opposition to the plan was Budi Waseso, president director of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), the very agency tasked by the government with implementing the rice-importation policy.

In a hearing with Bulog on Monday, lawmakers on House Commission IV overseeing agriculture, forestry and fisheries demanded the government buy rice from local farmers, who will begin harvesting in April.

“We call on the government to prioritize buying local products and we as Commission IV reject the plan to import 1 million tons of rice,” said Commission IV deputy chairman Hasan Aminudin.

Responding to the demand, Budi said that in all likelihood he would not implement the import plan and would only prioritize buying rice from local farmers.

“There’s no guarantee that we will implement the decision although it is our job to import the 1 million tons of rice. We will prioritize buying from locals and now we’re in the harvest season,” the Bulog head said as quoted by Antara.

This is not the first time Bulog has sparred with the Trade Ministry over rice imports. In September 2018, Budi fought back against a recommendation from then trade minister Enggartiasto Lukito to import 2 million tons of rice for the year.

The current decision to import up to 1.5 million tons of rice has been approved by Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi, who was appointed to the position only in December last year, taking over from Agus Suparmanto.

“It is my responsibility to ensure that rice stocks and distribution times align with demand. This will be coordinated between stakeholders,” Lutfi said during a work meeting on March 4.

The new rice-importation plan aims at building Indonesia’s “iron stock” and supporting the government’s social assistance programs, the trade minister said during the work meeting, which was also when the government announced the import plan, instructing Bulog to import the rice.

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, who chaired the March 4 meeting said that the government needed to maintain the steady supply of rice in anticipation of a surge in demand thanks to a rise in social aid distribution, the effects of flooding and the impact of COVID-19.

Airlangga said the government would first import 500,000 tons for government-run stock and another 500,000 tons to be allocated for Bulog.

Soon after the plan’s announcement, critics lambasted the government’s decision.  Farmers’ associations have raised their objections to the plan given that the country is moving closer to peak harvest season and farmers face falling prices.

Indonesian Farmer Union (SPI) chairman Henry Saragih said the average price of dry unhusked rice in Tuban, East Java, one of the country’s production centers, now stood at Rp 3,700 (26 US cents) per kilogram, lower than the government purchasing price (HPP) of Rp 4,200 per kg.

“The rice import plan ignores the situation farmers are currently facing at home,” Henry said in a press release on Wednesday.

Peak harvest season is expected to fall in early April, while the national average price of dry unhusked rice – the rawest form of rice – dipped 8.08 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 4,758 per kg in February, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data show. The price is relatively low but not below the HPP.

Rice imports are a recurring point of contention between the government and farmers’ associations. The former imports rice to build reserves to shield the poor from high prices and shortages, while the latter, most of whom are low-income people themselves, seek to sell their yields at the highest possible prices.

The planned rice import volume is more than double that of 2019 at 444,508.8 tons, according to recent BPS data.

However, Indonesia sources an overwhelming majority of its rice from domestic production, which places its import dependency ratio for rice at a mere 6.2 percent, according to a report published in May last year by the World Food Programme (WFP), quoting 2018 data.

Elsewhere, the Coalition for Food Sovereignty (KRKP) and National Farmer Movement (GPN) urged the government to strengthen Bulog’s purchasing power to procure rice from local farmers instead of importing rice to build the country’s buffer stock.

Based on its observations on Java Island, the two organizations reported no threats to domestic production and thus, the yields from the April-May harvest season should be enough to meet domestic demand.

The country’s rice-production centers are mostly located on Java Island, with East Java producing 9.94 million tons last year, followed by Central Java, West Java, South Sulawesi and South Sumatra, according to BPS data.

For the January-April period this year, BPS has forecast a 26.88 percent year-on-year (yoy) rise to 25.37 million tons in rice production in terms of dry milled unhusked rice.

While the price of unhusked rice has fluctuated recently, the average price of rice remained relatively stable at Rp 11,800 per kg in traditional markets on Wednesday, according to data from the National Strategic Food Price Information Center (PIHPS).

Sahat Marulitua Pasaribu, a researcher at the Agriculture Ministry, said on Wednesday that the planned rice import was not expected to affect the market as it was meant to act as a buffer stock and for social assistance, such as in the case of natural disasters.

Felippa Ann Amanta, the head of research at the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS), also urged Bulog to maximize absorbing local rice production, given the increase in last year’s production.

The country’s rice consumption was estimated to reach 7.48 million tons between January and March this year, according to a January estimate from the Agriculture Ministry. With a surplus from last year of 6.75 million tons, the country’s rice supply was estimated to reach 15.01 million tons in that period.