Cirebon farmers want limit on imported rice

Cirebon farmers want limit on imported rice

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post/Cirebon

A legislator representing major rice growing areas in West Java
is urging government action to restrict sales of imported rice
to protect current market prices at between Rp 3,400 (34 US
cents) and Rp 3,500 per kilogram.

Suryana, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission
IV for agricultural and maritime affairs, representing the
regencies of Cirebon and Indramayu, also urged the government to
involve farmers when drafting polices related to agricultural
issues, including rice imports.

"Farmers have never been involved in drafting agricultural
policy, especially related to rice imports. If they ever claim to
involve farmers, they are really talking about organization
leaders," Suryana, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), told The Jakarta Post in Cirebon.

He said farmers in Cirebon were concerned by the government's
policy of importing rice because they fear it could affect the
price of rice in local markets.

The government announced in September it would begin importing
rice in October to bolster domestic supplies ahead of Ramadhan
and Idul Fitri. Authorities said they would not release the
imported rice on the domestic market unless prices rose above Rp
3,500 per kilogram.

A farmer from Capar village in Cirebon regency, Rahmat, said
he was apprehensive about the possibility of imported rice
flooding the domestic market.

"If that were to happen, the price of domestic rice would
obviously drop. We had been expecting bumper profits, but that
seems unlikely now because the government is giving us any
support. Rice imports clearly hurt us," he said.

An official at the Cirebon Agricultural Office, Asikin
Kusnadi, said the price of rice in Cirebon currently ranged
between Rp 3,400 and Rp 3,500 per kilogram.

"If imported rice is sold in the markets, it will definitely
have an impact on rice prices. We estimate that prices would
decline to Rp 3,000 to Rp 3,200 per kilo," said Asikin.

He said farmers were currently only grumbling about rice
imports, but if authorities began selling the imported rice on
the market it could turn into open protests.

"We hope the central government keeps its promise and does not
put the imported rice on the market. Let the rice be kept in
reserve for the national rice stock," said Asikin.

He said it would be unnecessary for the government to approve
the sale of imported rice in Cirebon, where he claimed there was
always a rice production surplus.

According to data from the local agricultural office, unhusked
dried rice reserves from the 2004 harvest reached 455,544 tons,
the equivalent of 305,416 tons of rice, which is more than enough
to feed the two million residents of Cirebon.

"Cirebon only requires 228,261 tons of rice a year, leaving a
surplus of about 77,155 tons. We sell the surplus in a number of
areas, including at the Cipinang wholesale rice market in
Jakarta," said Asikin.

Cirebon regency, with an area of 989.7 square kilometers, is
one of the major rice producing areas in West Java, along with
Indramayu, Subang and Karawang regencies.

Cirebon has 2.03 million residents, of which 545,847 are
engaged in the agricultural sector.

There are about 50,000 hectares of rice fields in Cirebon,
which is the fifth largest in the province after Indramayu
(109,000 hectares), Karawang (80,000 hectares), Subang (62,000
hectares) and Majalengka (60,000 hectares).