Bapanas: Chicken and Egg Prices Strengthen as Free Nutritious Meal Programme Resumes
The National Food Agency (Bapanas) stated that broiler chicken and egg prices at the farm level have started to strengthen, coinciding with the resumption of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme after the school holidays, which has boosted demand.
Bapanas Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilisation I Gusti Ketut Astawa said President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship MBG programme has positive implications for domestic food producers. “Based on our data and after speaking with farmers, prices have relatively started to creep up. The MBG has had an influence, and now that we have passed the Suro month and children are returning to school, MBG has started again, so prices are beginning to rise,” Ketut said when confirmed on Friday.
He noted that after experiencing a price decline, broiler chicken and egg farmers are now seeing an escalation in prices approaching the government’s reference purchase price (HAP) at the producer level. According to Bapanas price monitoring, the average price of broiler chickens at the farm level has grown by 4.11 percent over the past week.
As of July 14, the average price of broiler chickens was recorded at Rp21,736 per kilogramme of live weight, up from Rp20,878 per kg the previous week. However, in South Sumatra, prices were still reported at Rp18,125 per kg live weight. Meanwhile, in Riau, the average farm-level price of broiler chickens reached Rp25,600 per kg live weight, exceeding the producer-level HAP set at Rp25,000 per kg.
For purebred chicken eggs, the national average price as of July 14 was Rp22,644 per kg, a 0.66 percent increase from Rp22,495 per kg the week before. The lowest average egg price was recorded in Banten at Rp20,300 per kg, while the highest was in North Sulawesi at Rp28,200 per kg. The farm-level HAP for purebred chicken eggs is set at Rp26,500 per kg.
“Now, for layer farmers, prices are between Rp20,000 and Rp21,000 per kg, slowly rising. We will see how it goes because it will continue to rise. But let the farmers enjoy this first, so that prices can reach the reference price we have set,” Ketut said.
He acknowledged that there had been a decline in public demand for eggs and chicken meat, leading to a drop in farm-level prices. However, the government is optimistic that a positive correction will occur to support the sustainability of domestic poultry farmers. “The month of Suro also had a significant impact because last month was relatively Suro, so wedding events and the like were halted, causing demand for chicken to decline and prices to correct,” Ketut explained.
“But once again, with the start of MBG and having passed the Suro month, this is crucial. Once we have passed this, prices will certainly correct positively for our farmers,” he added.
Previously, Head of Bapanas and Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman confirmed the absorption of local poultry farmers’ produce with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) through the implementation of the MBG programme. Monitoring of the reference purchase price is also being enforced together with the Police Food Task Force in the regions. Amran also mentioned that he had communicated closely with Head of BGN Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, who directly agreed to consistently absorb farmers’ eggs. With this step, it is hoped that the absorption of eggs for MBG will soon restore prices for egg farmers.