The cost of a prized and pricey plate of rice

Text and photos by PJ Leo

JAKARTA (JP): A meal is not a meal without a plate of rice to most people here. It is the food which provides them with the energy to get through their day.

Naturally, the public, especially the poor, have been thrown into great distress due to the skyrocketing price of the staple food. Before the crisis, a kilogram of medium-quality rice cost Rp 1,000. Today, the price has quadrupled, and even low-quality rice is costly.

Not surprisingly, hundreds flock to the local office of the Logistics Agency whenever it launches market operations selling rice at the old price of Rp 1,000/kg. They endure a sweltering sun for the opportunity to purchase between three and five kilograms.

The price is not the only concern for people, who are also worried over rumors of impending shortages.

Everybody knows the country must still import rice. It leaves many wondering why Indonesia, an agricultural country, cannot produce enough rice to feed its own people. Is it because there are not enough paddy fields or the land is not fertile enough? The answer is more complex, with different factors contributing.

The area of paddy fields, especially in Java and Bali, is dwindling in the wake of the "development process," converted into industrial and residential complexes. Many farmers in Java, the country's rice bowl, now earn their living on construction projects or in factories.

Another factor in the drop in production is harvest failure resulting from drought, flooding and pests of locusts, rats and grasshoppers.

The State Logistics Agency, which has the duty to secure sufficient rice stocks, obtains them not only from local farmers, but also from abroad.

When the price increases abnormally, the agency intervenes in the market by selling the stock to stabilize the price.

Critics charge these efforts are often undermined by the old problems of corruption and collusion, which keep the prices high.

No doubt people on the street, with scant understanding of international market fluctuations and bugaboos in the bureaucracy, are baffled as prices continue to soar. All they can do is hope and pray they can still afford a prized -- and pricey -- plate of rice tomorrow.