By: Hadi Susanto) *
The story of rice self-sufficiency in this country has faded for many years. The story of food security and rice self-sufficiency was then like a dream, it was hard to get back. This achievement was successfully achieved by Indonesia in 1984. All efforts have been made until finally the hard work came true again. In the past four years, Indonesia has succeeded in achieving rice self-sufficiency. Based on the FAO provisions in 1999, a country can be said to be self-sufficient in rice if its production reaches 90% of national needs. This means that Indonesia has succeeded in achieving rice self-sufficiency in the past four years.
Of course there are interesting things from the achievements of the Jokowi administration era, where in 1984, the population of Indonesia was 100 million, while now there are 260 million people. This means that population growth has doubled. Thus, the problem of rice self-sufficiency has been completed. This must be understood widely so that people are not confused with various issues.
Agricultural development is not only tied to the affairs of rice, but the agricultural sector has 460 commodities that must be maintained day and night. Interestingly, the export of agricultural commodities in 2018 was able to soar to 29.7%. Agriculture Minister Andi Amran also said that rice reserves currently reach 2 million tons. While the national rice reserve standard is 1 million tons, meaning that Indonesia’s rice reserves are twice the national reserve standard.
He also added that based on BPS data, rice stocks in households reached 8-9 million tons. Thus, if you add 2 million tons of bulog rice stock, the national rice stock currently reaches 10 to 11 tons. If national rice consumption is 2.5 million tons, it means that the rice stock we have can meet the needs for four months.
Of course it should also be noted that Ministry of Agriculture continues to encourage the transformation of agriculture from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. With the modernization of the target, increasing production of agricultural products is more visible to be realized. The community also panicked with the issue of the most expensive rice prices. Amran emphasized that retail rice prices in Indonesia are not the most expensive in the world. Because, if ranked, Indonesia is ranked 81st in the price of the most expensive retail rice in the world, which is in the price range of IDR 12,374 per Kg.
The first order of the world’s most expensive retail rice is the country of sunrise, Japan, with the price of rice at Rp. 57,678 per kg, while the price of the cheapest rice is occupied by the country of Sri Lanka, which is Rp. 7,618 per kg. With this information, Minister Amran requested that incorrect information regarding the most expensive Indonesian retail rice prices in the world should not continue to be a polemic.
The people of Indonesia should be proud that based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in Indonesia Indonesia occupies the third rank of the largest rice producing country in the world. The same thing was conveyed by House of Representatives Commission IV member Firman Subagiyo. Firman saw many breakthroughs made by the Jokowi government – JK in lifting the agricultural sector for 2 years in office. With these various breakthroughs, the State of Indonesia no longer imports rice on November 2, 2016.
Chairman of the Contact Mainstay Fisheries Farmer (KTNA), Winarno Tohir, said that the estimate was correct and was appropriate because each year there was an increase in production. According to him, the government has mobilized existing potentials. Tidal fields and swamp swamps are no longer ignored. Plus now it has been assisted with agricultural machinery equipment so that it becomes twice planted. Supported this year, La Nina continues to rain which can be used as an opportunity.
Of course there will be a question mark, what causes the price of rice to always be a polemic. Apparently this happened due to the food mafia. However, in the era of Jokowi-JK administration, the Ministry of Defense together with the TNI Commander, National Police Chief, KPPU, and Bulog have completed many food mafias. As many as 409 food mafia which have caused unrest and polemics, have been sent to prison and 782 companies that have received strict sanctions are being processed by law. Amran also stressed that there would be no compromise for the food mafia, because it was a mandate from the President. Because food security also concerns the country’s resilience.
On the other hand, the United Nations (UN) expressed its appreciation for the performance of Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman for the achievements of several strategic food commodities that were self-sufficient until 2018. Among them were rice, shallots, corn, and plantation and livestock commodities. Appreciation was also given by the United Nations for the efforts of the Minister of Agriculture in protecting farmers. It is related to providing assistance – inputs for inputs, tools and agricultural machinery, and shortening the supply chain of agricultural products, all of which are dedicated to increasing farmers’ income and poverty alleviation.
It also admired Amran’s persistence in protecting oil palm farmers. The United Nations will continue to support government efforts to protect farmers, including encouraging protection of rice varieties and other commodities developed by farmers in the regions, in this case local varieties.
Of course this achievement cannot be separated from cross-ministry cooperation. Good cooperation has also been established with the Ministry of Trade with the Ministry of Trade, the Indonesian National Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, National Logistics Agency and Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) in the form of the Food Task Force Team. The Food Satgas Team was formed ahead of the 2017 Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr to monitor food prices and availability, and enforce the law against the food mafia and cartel.
) * The author is an observer of economic problems