Amran Moves Quickly to Help Poultry Farmers, Issues Order
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Agriculture Minister and National Food Agency (Bapanas) head Amran Sulaiman has asked state-owned Perum Bulog and ID Food to buy Rp30 billion worth of eggs from farmers. The emergency measure is intended to help farmers facing price pressure and an oversupply of eggs.
Amran said the government had prepared three measures to address the problem: buying eggs through the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme, building a factory to process eggs into egg powder, and purchases by Bulog and ID Food.
“First, the MBG programme will absorb the supply; we have spoken to the head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). The second measure, for the long term, is to build an egg-processing factory to make egg powder,” Amran said at a press conference at his office in Jakarta on Tuesday (27 October 2026).
“Third, as an emergency measure, we have asked ID Food and Bulog to buy the eggs. The value is Rp30 billion; that is not a problem. Bulog and ID Food can handle it. We are asking them to act from now,” he added.
Amran said the emergency purchases were needed while the government develops a more integrated system to safeguard farmers’ livelihoods. The measure responds to complaints from small-scale farmers, who say egg prices remain below production costs.
Ikhwan, secretary of the Sumedang Raya Farmers’ Producers Cooperative, said poultry farmers in West Java had been making losses for the past seven months.
“We have been losing around Rp4,000 per kilogram for nearly seven months,” Ikhwan said at the Agriculture Ministry’s office.
He said the production cost of eggs was about Rp24,000 per kilogram, while the price received by farmers in West Java was around Rp20,000 per kilogram. The difference leaves farmers with a loss of about Rp4,000 per kilogram.
The strain on the business has also reduced the number of farmers able to continue operating. Ikhwan said that of the cooperative’s approximately 100 members across 10 regencies in West Java, only about half remained.
“That’s right, only half of our cooperative’s members are left,” he said.
In addition to low selling prices, Ikhwan highlighted the egg surplus and high costs of feed ingredients. He said both issues needed to be addressed for poultry farming to become sustainable again.
He also welcomed the government’s Feed Corn Supply and Price Stabilisation (SPHP) programme and the procurement of feed ingredients through ID Food. However, he said the supply of subsidised maize remained a problem, as farmers had to compete with feed manufacturers to obtain it.
“The government is subsidising maize today. The market price is as high as Rp8,000 per kilogram, while the government price is subsidised to Rp5,500 per kilogram through Bulog,” Ikhwan said.
He hoped the government would not only help buy eggs but also ensure maize supplies were available and improve the poultry supply chain from upstream to downstream.