DPR Member Urges Government to Maintain National Food Stocks and Price Escalation

JAKARTA - A member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives from the Golkar faction, Eko Wahyudi, has urged the government to continue safeguarding national food stocks and price escalations. This is in light of global dynamics and climate change that could potentially disrupt domestic supply chains and production costs. He noted that global food prices rose by 2.4 per cent in March 2026 compared to the previous month. The global increase was driven by surging energy costs due to the conflict in the Middle East. “This situation could directly impact the production costs of certain goods if the government is slow to anticipate price escalations,” Eko stated in his remarks on Thursday night (16/4/2026). According to him, Indonesia’s rice stocks can meet needs for the next 11 months. “In line with President Prabowo’s strategic programme, the Ministry of Agriculture and Indonesian farmers have successfully achieved rice self-sufficiency; this is an extraordinary and historic achievement, especially as we know the world is far from stable amid the increasingly directionless Middle East conflict,” he explained. He believes that support for tools and infrastructure is needed, starting from programmes to optimise irrigation, rehabilitate irrigation systems, build retention basins, utilise shallow water, deep wells, shallow wells, piped pump systems, and regulate planting patterns with drought-resistant varieties. He cited the example of eggs, which have experienced price declines. However, feed prices continue to rise, thus harming farmers. “To mitigate losses for laying hen farmers due to high feed prices and low selling prices, the National Food Agency can direct the Free Nutritious Meals Programme Implementation Unit to absorb egg production in order to stabilise prices and benefit local farmers,” Eko added.