Farmers Urge Forming of National Food Agency

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-Rice farmers joined as members of the Indonesian Farmers Revival Movement (Gerbang Tani) proposed for the establishment of a national food agency. The idea surfaced following the government's plan to import rice due to data inaccuracies of the national grain production.  

"We are proposing for the institute to be under the president. Later, it will have full authority over the national food policy," Gerbang Tani chairman Idham Arsyad said in a written statement Tempo received on Tuesday, October 13.

According to Idham, farmers are troubled by government's rice import discourses, such as Vice President Jusuf Kalla's statement that the country needs to import rice some time ago.

"With [the presence of a] national food agency, the decision to import rice will not be upon the Vice President on behalf of the cabinet meeting," he said.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the Vietnamese of Industry and Trade Ministry announced that they have won a contract to supply 1 million tons of rice to Indonesia. The contract is said to worth US$350 per ton or Rp4.8 trillion. According Idham, this plan contradicts the Jokowi-Kalla's 'Nawa Cita' agenda, which is to achieve food independence.

The Central Statistics Agency had said that Indonesia will have a rice surplus of 10.5 million tons of rice this year. But Bulog's data shows that there is only 1.8 million tons of rice stock available. Meanwhile, the price of premium quality rice continue to rise above Rp10,500 per kilogram.

AYU PRIMA SANDI