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).