Rice Price Disparity Between Regions, Prof I Made Sumertajaya Encourages Contextual Policy
IPB University reaffirmed its strategic role in responding to national food issues. Through a study using the Biclustering (B-Cluster) and Time Series Clustering approaches, the IPB University research team succeeded in exploring local information to support contextual, adaptive, and targeted policy formulation.
Professor of the School of Data Science, Mathematics, and Informatics (SSMI) IPB University, Prof I Made Sumertajaya said this study mapped the pattern of changes in rice prices and a number of strategic commodities in Indonesia.
The results of the analysis show that there is a wide price disparity between regions, so specific policy interventions are needed according to the characteristics of each region.
“Rice is a prima donna commodity that is very sensitive. If there is a change in price or availability is disrupted, it has the potential to trigger social unrest,” said Prof I Made Sumertajaya in the Press Conference of Pre Scientific Oration of Professor of IPB University (8/14).
He further explained that this study mapped the dynamics of rice prices in 34 provinces and produced seven regional groups (clusters) with similar price patterns. This division allows the government to take different intervention steps for each cluster, so that policies become more targeted.
From the analysis, several provinces such as Papua, West Papua, East Kalimantan, and Riau are included in one group with a high price trend. Meanwhile, other provinces form different groups with their own characteristics.
“By understanding this pattern, policy interventions are no longer global. Each region can get solutions that are relevant to its local conditions,” explained Prof I Made.
Apart from rice, this research is also applied to price monitoring of 13 other food commodities in 514 districts/cities. Although most regions did not have complete data, IPB University managed to map the entire region through a mapping approach based on similarity in price patterns.
The results of this study are expected to be the basis for food policies that are more contextual, adaptive and responsive. “Our hope is that the results will enable forecasting and determination of policy directions according to regional characteristics, so that the impact will be more felt by the community,” concluded Prof I Made. (AS) (IAAS/NRA)
