Farmers Call for Regulated Tobacco Price
8 August 2014 14:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Sumenep – Tobacco farmers in Sumenep regency, East Java, are asking the local government to regulate the purchase price of tobacco by cigarette producers, in a bid to avoid huge, protracted losses. "We are entering harvest time, yet there is still no word on the tobacco price range," Syairi, chairman if Ganding Village Model Farmers Group, said on Thursday, August 7.
A regulated price range, he said, will help farmers determine tobacco sell prices to merchants. Without a regulated price, merchants tend to bargain for a very cheap price regardless of the tobacco quality.
"We ask the government to set prices based on the amount of capital we spend," said Syairi.
Heni Yulianto from Sumenep's Industry and Trade Bureau, previously said that local governments cannot regulate tobacco price. She said that tobacco is categorized as free goods, which means that "its price is determined by the quality and the demand from cigarette producers."
Nevertheless, Heni said, local governments will continue to monitor the purchase price of tobacco farmers. If prices are considered too low, the government, the Legislative Council, the Tobacco Farmers Association and representatives of cigarette manufacturers would always have a discussion and find the best solution. "That is all the government can do," she said.
MUSTHOFA BISRI