Bulog told to buy rice to boost local prices

Bulog told to buy rice to boost local prices

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Ministry of Agriculture urged the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog) to procure at least 600,000 tons of unhusked rice from
farmers this month to help prop up the current sluggish price of
the commodity.

"Bulog must procure at least 600,000 tons of unhusked rice in
May to help prop up the price," ministry community empowerment
for food security general director Ahmad Suryana said on Friday.

Speaking at a conference, Ahmad said Bulog must purchase the
farmers' rice at a government-set floor price of Rp 1,230 per
kilogram.

Bulog is aiming to purchase up to 3 million tons of unhusked
rice (equal to about 2.2 million tons of rice) this year as part
of its reserves strategy. The agency has so far bought 1.4
million tons of unhusked rice.

Rice has once again become an issue in the press after the
price of unhusked rice at the farm level plunged to Rp 800 per kg
as the current harvest season starts.

Some experts have earlier said that farmers get a low price
for the unhusked rice partly because of the massive inflow of
cheaper imports and the lower quality of the product due to a
delay in the planting season.

But Ahmad said that another factor was manipulation by Bulog
contractors assigned to purchase the farmers' unhusked rice.

He accused the contractors of taking advantage of farmers weak
cash flow by forcing them to sell the unhusked rice at a very
cheap price to gain greater profits.

He urged Bulog to monitor the action of its contractors.