TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi said that the recent hike in egg prices was attributable to the increase in production costs. He explained that there was a change in production costs at the farmer level, especially the feed cost variable.

"Based on the Farming Business Cost Structure [SOUT], the feed cost contributes 67 percent of the basic production cost of egg, with 50 percent of the feed being milled corn," Arief said in a statement on Monday, May 22, 2023.

Arief believed that improvement must begin at the upstream level that will systematically shape prices at the downstream level. In order to prevent production costs at the farmer level from escalating, Bapanas would prioritize stabilizing feed prices by encouraging the distribution of corn from West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and South Sulawesi to egg-producing areas in Central Java, East Java, and Lampung.

Based on the Food Price Panel as of May 21, 2023, the national average egg price is Rp31,276 per kilogram. "This price is inseparable from the current input/feed costs and the surge in distribution costs to non-producing areas," Arief explained.

Additionally, he assessed that social assistance of eggs and chicken meat could also be one of the strategic steps to control the egg prices from upstream to downstream. The SOE holding ID Food would enhance the distribution of this social aid.

“So [the price] can be suppressed from the downstream through this aid to prevent a spike in inflation. While in the upstream, we keep good prices at breeders, so they can continue production and increase their productivity,” the Food Agency (Bapanas) head concluded.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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