Exports threaten rice stocks in S. Sulawesi

Exports threaten rice stocks in S. Sulawesi

By Hasanuddin Hamid

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): When Lake Tempe overflowed
following heavy rains in mid-July, more than 15,000 hectares of
paddy fields were inundated. As a result, 6,700 hectares of crops
either failed or were badly damaged.

But bad weather and crop failures have not been the only
threats to the province's 570,000 hectares of rice fields,
targeted to yield a stock of 250,000 metric tons this year.

Governor Z.B. Palaguna told The Jakarta Post last week that
people were increasingly concerned about major traders' practice
of transporting great quantities of rice to provinces in
Kalimantan, whence the commodity would then be exported to
Malaysia and Singapore to make a bigger profit.

On Friday, Aug. 28, for instance, the governor and a team of
his staff discovered hundreds of tons of rice stored in
warehouses along the toll road leading to Terong Market, in sacks
bearing a logo that says it's a product of East Kalimantan. More
than 200 tons are transported to Kalimantan every day, the
businessman who owned the commodity admitted.

"I suspect that millions of tons of rice have recently been
transported to Central Kalimantan, whose population is less than
two million," Palaguna said, expressing his concern that such
distribution practices would adversely affect rice supply to
eastern Indonesian regions such as Irian Jaya, Maluku, and East
Nusa Tenggara.

"This is an indication that the rice produced in South
Sulawesi is exported to neighboring countries through Kalimantan,
either for barter or sale," Palaguna said.

Traders admitted that better prices were their incentive to
sell the rice to Kalimantan and on to other countries. Rice which
sells for Rp 2,500 (21 U.S. cents) to Rp 3,200 per kilogram in
Ujungpandang, fetches S$2 (Rp 12,000) in Malaysia and Singapore.

According to Palaguna, farmers, too, preferred to sell their
crops to inter-island traders at better prices than the Rp 1,750
per kilogram offered by the local National Logistics Agency
buyers.

"We must not think only about profits, but also the need of
those who depend on us for rice supply," Palaguna said, adding
that autonomous management of rice distribution might be the
answer.

With such a system, the local administration could limit the
amount of rice transported outside of the region, he pointed out.
"This idea will perhaps be criticized, but unless some limitation
is imposed, many people in South Sulawesi and other provinces
will not be able to buy rice."

In the first week of August, a kilogram of rice of medium
quality sold in Ujungpandang markets for Rp 2,100 to Rp 2,300. In
the third week, the price had increased to Rp 3,200 per kilogram.

Some farmers in rice producing centers such as Luwu, Wajo,
Soppeng and Bone regencies said every hectare yields around two
tons of rice, which they sell for Rp 3.5 million per ton, netting
them a profit of Rp 1 million. But if they sell the rice to the
big traders for export, they can make much larger profits.

For the 1998/1999 fiscal year, the government has targeted to
buy 250,000 tons of rice for stocks. By late August, however, the
logistics agency had only been able to stockpile 18,000 tons or 8
percent of the target. By the same time last year, the logistics
agency had bought 200,000 tons of rice from farmers.

In 1996, South Sulawesi farmers produced 4.6 million tons of
unhusked rice, 250,000 tons of which were bought by the logistics
agency to stockpile, while a further 213,000 tons were bought by
inter-island traders. Other data, however, says that every year,
665,000 tons of rice are transported out of South Sulawesi.

Farmers in Maritangngae Sidrap, Majaulang, in Wajo regency and
in Takkalala and Donri-donri in Soppeng regency said they
preferred to sell their crop to inter-island traders.

"The traders go to the farmers in the fields and offer them
better prices, and process the rice themselves," according to
Basri, a farmer from Bae Bunta district in Luwu regency.

However, a study conducted earlier this year by the United
Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has categorized Southeast
Sulawesi as one of Indonesia's provinces no longer facing food
shortages.

The study concluded that Southeast Sulawesi had enough corn,
cassava and sweet potatoes, the main staples of the province's
population.

Unicef also indicated that of the 224 districts it has studied
in Indonesia, 70 are classified as facing risks of food shortages
-- 18 in Java, 18 in Sumatra, six in Kalimantan, 11 in Bali, 11
in Nusa Tenggara, 12 in East Timor and four in Sulawesi.

The four districts in Sulawesi are Gorontalo and Minahasa in
North Sulawesi, Majene in South Sulawesi and Toli-Toli in Central
Sulawesi.