Buwas announces 2 Jokowi ministers ordering rice imports.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The government will import around 1 million tons of rice at the beginning of this year. The government claims that imports must be made to maintain national rice stocks.

Imported rice will be used to increase reserves or the government calls it by the term iron broth. This rice import plan was agreed in a limited coordination meeting.

The managing director of Bulog Public Company (Perum), Budi Waseso, admitted that he did not intend to import rice this year. This move to import rice came after his party received a sudden order from the Minister of Commerce, Muhammad Lutfi, and the coordinating Minister of the Economy, Airlangga Hartanto.

“The policy of the Coordinating Minister and the Minister of Commerce, finally gave us a sudden assignment to carry out imports,” explained Buwas, his nickname, quoted from Compass tv, Wednesday (3/17/2021).

Also read: Different voices of Jokowi’s subordinates on rice imports

According to him, at that time, the coordination meeting with the Ministry of Economic Affairs Coordination had never discussed rice imports before. The meeting only discussed national food stocks and the threat of climate disturbances that could affect rice stocks.

Buwas also said that the issue of the government’s decision to import 1 million tons of rice began to put pressure on the price of unhulled rice from farmers. Because this is known when entering the first harvest period of this year that takes place from March to April 2021.

“There is a harvest, which means that there is a conflict between domestic production and imports. This has just been announced, now the impact on the farmers’ price field is already present. release,“he said.

Burdens bulog

The former Kabareskrim and director of the National Narcotics Agency said that rice imports would be a burden for Perum Bulog. This is because Bulog also keeps the remaining stocks of the last imported rice, even now the quality is getting worse because it has been accumulating in warehouses for a long time.

Also read: Ministry of Agriculture claims excess stocks of rice, Ministry of Commerce says it needs to import

He said his party was ready to accommodate up to 3.6 million tons of rice according to the capacity of Bulog warehouses throughout Indonesia, but called for market share to distribute the absorbed rice.

“If we buy as much as we are ready, as long as the downstream is used,” Buwas said. Between.

He said that Bulog had lost a market share of 2.6 million tons of rice per year because the government replaced the Rastra Program (rice for prosperous families) to become Non-Effective Food Assistance (BPNT).

Where previously the community received social assistance in the form of rice from Bulog, they now receive non-cash assistance that the beneficiaries can spend themselves in positions in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Also read: If you have to import, Bulog complains that the rice accumulates in the warehouse.

Buwas reported that rice supplies as of March 14, 2021 at the Bulog warehouse reached 883,585 tons, with details of 859,877 tons of government rice reserves (CBP) and 23,708 tons of commercial rice stocks.

From CBP’s current stocks, Buwas revealed that the quality of rice exported in 2018 decreased by 106,642 tons from the total rice imported in 2018 of 1,785,450 tons.

Buwas said that the total number of imported rice that is already in its annual storage period is 461 thousand tons. Meanwhile, the remaining imported rice in 2018 that is still available in the Bulog warehouse is 275,811 tons, of which 106,642 tons have declined in quality.

Buwas, who is also the former head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), revealed that the error in rice imports in 2018 was due to the average rate being a type of pear rice that did not suit Indonesian tastes. who made it. Difficult to distribute the rice.

Also read: About the import of 1 million tons of rice, Bulog: we are not sure whether to implement it

Bulog said he needed to mix imported rice with domestically produced rice in order to distribute it to the public.

In March 2020, Buwas continued, in 2018 around 900 thousand tons of imported rice remained. The rice is then used to distribute social assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs and direct assistance from the president to the community to overcome the economic impact of the pandemic.

However, around 450 thousand tons of rice from 900 thousand tons of alokai were distributed. The rest, so far, 275,811 tons of imported rice in 2018 are still stored in the Bulog warehouse, of which 106,642 tons have experienced a decrease in quality.

The plan, Buwas said, is that the remaining imported rice in 2018 will be processed into flour that will be handled by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry.

Also read: The cry of farmers: grain prices are cheap again, how come rice imports?

However, according to him, Bulog received an allocation to import 1 million tonnes of rice even though the remaining rice imports in 2018 have not been completed.

“But so far it cannot be implemented. This is a burden on Bulog,” Buwas said.

Explanation of the Minister of Commerce

Trade Minister (Trade Minister) Muhammad Lutfi believes that the policy of importing 1 million tonnes of rice in 2021 will not destroy the price of unhulled rice at the farmer level. According to him, this step was taken to maintain national rice stocks and stabilize prices.

“(Importing) is part of a strategy to ensure stable prices. Believe me, the government does not intend to destroy farmers’ prices, especially during the harvest season,” Lutfi told a news conference on Monday (15 / 3/2021). .

Also read: This is the Trade Minister’s excuse for rice imports when an increase in local production is projected

Lutfi admitted that according to BPS data, domestic rice production saw a slight increase of 0.07 percent to reach 31.63 million in 2020. The increase in production is also expected to continue in 2021.

Rice production potential during January-April 2021 is estimated to reach 14.54 million tons, an increase of 3.08 million tons or 26.84 percent compared to production in the same period of 2020. which amounted to 11.46 million tons.

However, Lutfi said, this year’s production figures are still predictive. This means that there is still the possibility of experiencing an increase or even a decrease, especially given the recent high rainfall conditions in various regions of Indonesia.

Also read: Again, imported sugar is the mainstay of the Jokowi government to stabilize prices