Government Subsidises Corn Feed to Protect Poultry Farmers and Stabilise Prices

Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) and Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman stated that the government is distributing subsidised corn feed through the Food Supply and Price Stabilisation (SPHP) programme to maintain the sustainability of poultry farmers and stabilise national prices. “We have subsidised corn feed. There are 200,000-plus tonnes of subsidised corn through SPHP. We provide it at a good price for farmers,” Amran said in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday. He noted that the SPHP corn feed programme has been rolling out since early May 2026 to supply more affordable corn feed to poultry farmers.

Amran has tasked the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) with distributing the SPHP corn, with a temporary target of 213,200 tonnes out of a total allocation of 242,000 tonnes for this year. He explained that the distributed corn feed stock comes from local farmers’ harvests, which are stored as the government’s corn reserve (CJP). After supporting domestic corn farmers with favourable purchase prices, the CJP stock is then used to support poultry farmers. “We bought it from the start for the farmers. We buy it so that corn farmers can produce well. We give a good price, which is IDR 5,500 per kilogramme. Then we store it. When farmers need it during seasons like now, we supply it directly,” Amran explained.

Amran detailed that the realisation of the SPHP corn feed distribution programme in 2026 had reached 55,500 tonnes as of 29 June. The programme targets 5,543 farmers across 26 provinces, comprising micro, small, and medium-scale farmers with a total poultry population of 53 million birds. The price of corn feed set by Bapanas is IDR 5,000 per kilogramme for collection from Bulog warehouses, with a maximum price of IDR 5,500 per kilogramme at the farmer level. Distribution is carried out through cooperatives or associations to members registered under a Decree of the Minister of Agriculture. The government has prepared a total budget of IDR 678 billion through Bapanas for the SPHP corn feed programme this year, with a maximum distribution allocation of 242,000 tonnes, which can continue until the end of 2026.

Separately, Bapanas Director of SPHP Maino Dwi Hartono said the condition of egg and chicken meat prices at the consumer level is very different from the condition of prices at the farmer level. Government intervention is needed to support poultry farmers who are currently experiencing a decline in downstream prices. “Eggs are still IDR 30,000 per kilogramme, or in accordance with the sales reference price. However, at the farm level today, our fellow farmers are in great difficulty because the national average price is IDR 21,000. In fact, today in the East Java region, the centre of chicken production, in Blitar and Magetan, the average price is IDR 17,000 per kilogramme,” Maino said. Therefore, Bapanas is also encouraging the involvement of regional governments to connect areas experiencing fluctuating egg and broiler chicken prices with farmer associations that need support for absorption. “So that farmers can get a good price and, of course, consumers can also get a fair price or one that is in accordance with the sales reference price,” Maino explained.

Bapanas is also promoting absorption through the Cheap Food Movement programme in various regions to provide a leverage effect on prices at the farm level. Furthermore, Bapanas is encouraging the implementation of a commitment for the Nutritional Fulfilment Service Unit to absorb produce directly from poultry farmers nationwide. This is intended so that when the free nutritious meal programme becomes fully active again after the school holidays in mid-July, it can have a positive impact on farmers.