Bapanas: Government intervention in chicken and egg prices to prevent deflation

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Food Agency (Bapanas) has reiterated that the government will continue to intervene in prices from upstream to downstream to prevent a deeper deflation in the commodities of broiler chicken meat and broiler eggs at the national farmers’ level. Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilisation I Gusti Ketut Astawa said the intervention steps are aimed at maintaining price balance to remain fair for both farmers and consumers amid the current price declines. ‘To prevent the deepest deflation for broiler chicken meat and broiler eggs, the government continues to move to implement interventions from upstream to downstream,’ Ketut said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

According to Bapanas, live broiler prices and broiler eggs at the farmers’ level are currently around 8 per cent below the government’s reference purchase price (HAP). This situation has begun to be complained about by farmers because it can squeeze their business profits. In addition to maintaining price balance, the intervention is also conducted to maintain national food stability and to avoid deeper deflationary pressures on strategic food commodities.

‘This is the friends (farmers) who have cried out. This is what we will push to restore fairness. It is below the HAP but must be raised; of course this will affect the Price Development Index (IPH),’ Ketut explained.

In price monitoring at the producer level up to 17 May, Ketut added, the national average price for live broilers stood at Rp22,783 per kilogram (kg), 8.87 per cent below the Rp25,000 per kg HAP. Meanwhile, broiler eggs were at Rp24,356 per kg or 8.09 per cent below the HAP Rp26,500 per kg.

Ketut said his side would immediately collaborate with the Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) to stabilise the price of broiler eggs at the producer level again. Additionally, Bapanas is also working with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to directly absorb the commodities from farmers.

‘The aim is not to let prices fall below, leading to demonstrations and so on,’ Ketut said.

The programme represents the government’s stabilisation efforts, as corn prices at the farm level are currently around Rp6,700 per kilogram, while SPHP-supplied corn is priced at around Rp5,000 per kilogram, allowing farmers to still secure reasonable profits. ‘With SPHP corn assistance, they can enjoy a fair profit,’ Ketut added.

Bapanas has set the SPHP corn feed price at Rp5,000 per kg with pickup at Bulog warehouses, and a maximum price at Rp5,500 per kg at the farm level. The government’s corn stock (CJP) as of 18 May stood at 234,000 tonnes. In tandem, Bapanas ensures Bulog continues absorbing domestically produced corn, with uptake reaching 194,200 tonnes from the start of 2026 to 18 May.

Earlier, the Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian stated that the implementation of the food intervention programme had been going quite well during an Inflation Control Meeting in Jakarta on Monday (18 May).

‘Across the country, broiler meat is relatively under control. 232 regions saw declines. This indicates that the intervention by Bulog and Bapanas, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, is going well,’ Tito said. ‘We remain grateful that year‑on‑year inflation is still at 2.42 per cent in April. However, in May we must carefully monitor the impact of rising fuel prices and currency exchange rates,’ he added.