IPB Recommendation: Accompanying Rice Import by Raising HPP

Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) through the Directorate of Strategic Studies and Agricultural Policy (KSKP) held a press conference related to the chaotic in the increase of rice prices and rice import efforts by the government (22/1).

Director of KSKP IPB, Prof. Dr. Dodik Ridho Nurrochmat, said that since mid-2017 IPB has warned that there will be lack of rice stocks in Indonesia. However, in order to avoid a protracted and endless debate, IPB provides short, medium and long-term recommendations.

"The government should ensure the availability of rice stock and no drastic reduction in rice prices as soon as possible. This is possible if the import is done by Bulog. For now, rice imports must be done because rice stock in Bulog is running low. But on the other hand, these import decisions do not reduce prices at farmer level. Therefore, the government should announce the increase of HPP (Government Purchase Price)," he said at IPB International Convention Center (IICC), Bogor.

According to him, rice that goes to Indonesia is from the excess stock in Thailand which is sold cheap. In Thailand, there is an excess of rice stocks up to 10 million tons. This is used to ensure the availability of rice in Bulog. Imports can be done by raising the HPP.

"The import policy raises concerns that the price of farmers' grain will fall. Hence, price increases at farmer level should be announced immediately once rice imports are made. The fund gains from the profit gap between imported and domestic rice prices. We have calculated and it is enough to raise the price of HPP. Based on Inpres, the HPP is Rp 3,700,-. Currently, farmers get Rp 5,000 per kilogram of dry grain harvest," he said.

He said the government should assign Bulog, not others. Bulog is the one which conducts market operations. This is to ensure the farmers can obtain the profit at harvest time.

"There will be a certainty in a few days, if it is possible. In the near future, HPP must rise because in the harvest moon will come soon. It's not yet harvested, so it's not too late to set the HPP even though the coordination is not easy. The real price in the field is above the government's purchase price. The government can no longer expect the problem to be solved with the task force (Satgas) of food when it is faced with supply and demand in the field. IPB has conveyed the concerns about this shortage of food stocks since the middle of last year, but the problem is still repeated," he said.

That was a short-term solution. To avoid the recurrence of this incident, IPB also submitted a medium-term recommendation, namely the need for improvement of food data, especially rice, evaluation of rice cropping pattern that is almost without pause (3-4 times a year), as well as superior seed application.

"Correction of data must be done. There was a mismatch of 20-30 per cent of data (excess stock of rice). In many places, there were crop failures, especially in 2017. This data should be fixed immediately. Conflict of interest causes information to be confusing, "he said.

Cultivation techniques need attention and the government policies that encourage the intensification (3-4 times per year) will make pests and diseases to come. Such patterns open the possibility of the emergence of plant pests and diseases.

Based on data obtained by the IPB team at the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture (Faperta), there are 30 districts in Bali, Java, Lampung and South Sumatera, experiencing wereng pest attacks and hollow dwarf viruses (the plant is green, but the grain is hollow). Thereby, it will threat national food security in the coming years.

The government should also encourage the increase of the productivity through the planting of superior seeds that are cheap and easy to apply by farmers. IPB has various research results and innovations that can be utilized, such as IPB 3S and the development of Mandiri Benih Village in 23 regencies.

For the long-term strategy, people's dependence on rice should be lowered, one of the ways is by changing the characteristics of the society. Indonesia's rice consumption in 2016 reached 98 kilograms (kg) per capita per year. This was still higher than Korea (40 kg per capita per year), Japan (50 kg per capita per year), Malaysia (80 kg per capita per year) and Thailand (70 kg per capita per year).

"In addition, the standard "self-sufficiency" or the target of domestic rice production is closer to a more realistic figure. It is also important to allocate more agricultural land, especially food crops and rice fields, to ensure the fulfillment of national food needs," he said. (zul)