Rainy season affects city food stuff supply

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The prices of corps and some vegetables here have increased due to the rainy season, which hit crop-producing areas in Central, West and East Java, and disrupted the city's food supply.

Floods resulting from incessant rain have either damaged crops or caused farmers to delay in harvesting them out of fear that the rain will lower the crops' quality.

According to some vendors in the Kramat Jati market in East Jakarta, the produce which has arrived there is in poor condition. "Vegetables, for example, are mostly spoiled from sitting in water for too long," Lulu, a vendor at the market, told The Jakarta Post.

The price of chilies and red onions has risen drastically, from Rp 8,000 to Rp 16,000 per kilogram for chili, and from Rp 5,000 to Rp 7,000 per kg for red onions.

"A large number of onions were damaged because of the rain, causing its supply to be scarce," Lulu said, adding that the price jumped as a result.

Chilies, which mostly come from Rembang, East Java and Sukabumi in West Java, were in the same condition.

"During the rainy season, the farmers are reluctant to harvest chilies. That's why the chilies have rotted, they have had too much rain," another vendor, Minarti, told the Post.

The price of other produce, such as tomatoes and potatoes, has increased to about 25 percent, and is selling at Rp 3,500 per kg.

Most of the produce is grown in West Java and North Sumatra.

Consumers are seeing a 100 percent price hike in carrots and celery, vendors said, because farmers were having difficulty with harvesting them from their drenched fields.

Even though the existing food supply is able to meet the rising demand, prices have been increasing significantly. The price of the best quality rice, Pandan Wangi, for example, has jumped from Rp 3,000 to Rp 3,500. Consumers are complaining about the price hikes at the market, however, many have said they had no choice but to pay extra.

"I have to have these things," said one housewife, Rina Hasibuan. "Otherwise, we won't have anything to eat at home."

Meanwhile, the price of other vegetables, such as white onions, cabbages and beans, is still the same.