Govt raises rice and fertilizer prices<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government yesterday increased the producer
\nprice (floor price) of unhusked rice by 16.6 percent and
\nfertilizers by an average of 21 percent to increase farmers'
\nincome and cut back on fertilizer subsidies.<\/p>\n
After meeting with President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace
\nyesterday, Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said the
\nfloor price of unhusked rice would be propped up from Rp 450
\n(19.5 U.S. cents) to Rp 525 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
Sjarifudin, accompanied by State Minister of Food Ibrahim
\nHasan and head of the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) Beddu
\nAmang, said the price of unhusked rice procured by Bulog from
\nvillage cooperatives was also increased 16 percent from Rp 466 to
\nRp 541 per kg.<\/p>\n
Unhusked rice procured by Bulog from parties other than
\nvillage cooperatives was increased 16.3 percent from Rp 460 to Rp
\n535 per kg.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, rice procured by Bulog from village cooperatives
\nincreased 16 percent from Rp 738 to Rp 856 per kg and from non-
\nvillage cooperatives by 16 percent from Rp 730 to Rp 848 per kg.<\/p>\n
Bulog was set up by the government in 1967 to control
\ndistribution and importation of several basic foodstuffs --
\nincluding rice, sugar, wheat, corn and soybean -- to ensure
\nnational food security and reasonable incomes for farmers.<\/p>\n
Sjarifudin said urea fertilizer prices were increased by 21
\npercent from Rp 330 to Rp 400 per kg, ZA fertilizer by 27 percent
\nfrom Rp 355 to Rp 450 per kg and superphosphate-36 (SP-36)
\nfertilizer by 14 percent from Rp 525 to Rp 600 per kg.<\/p>\n
Sjarifudin said the price increases of unhusked rice, rice and
\nfertilizers were expected to contribute 1.09 percent to the
\nannual inflation rate.<\/p>\n
The inflation rate dropped to 6.47 percent last year from 8.64
\npercent in 1995.<\/p>\n
He said in real terms the increase in urea prices could give
\nfarmers a 16 percent increase in their income.<\/p>\n
Last year, the rice floor price was raised 12.5 percent, when
\nadjusted for 8.65 percent inflation in 1995 gave a real rise of
\nonly 3.85 percent.<\/p>\n
But the increase did not stop the erosion of rice farmers'
\nterms of trade because the price of granular urea rose 27 percent
\nand that of urea tablets rose 11 percent in February last year.<\/p>\n
Sjarifudin said earlier this week the main objective of the
\nrice price increase was to further improve the real incomes of
\nrice growers.<\/p>\n
The agriculture ministry estimated that 51 million tons of
\nunhusked rice or the equivalent of around 33.15 million tons of
\nmilled rice were produced domestically last year. This
\nrepresented a mere 2.6 percent increase on the 49.74 million tons
\nharvested in 1995.<\/p>\n
The ministry estimates per capita rice consumption this year
\nat 130 kg, or 25.9 million tons for the population.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, formerly the biggest rice importer in the world,
\nbecame self sufficient in 1984. In 1994 however, unfavorable
\nclimates and plant diseases forced the country to revert to
\nimports.<\/p>\n
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, production in
\nIndonesia fell by 3.2 percent to 46.6 million tons of unhusked
\nrice in 1994 -- the lowest level in 15 years -- from 48.2 million
\ntons in 1993.<\/p>\n
Rice is currently the staple diet of nearly 90 percent of
\nIndonesia's 190 million people. (pwn)<\/p>",
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