Vice President Absorbs Farmers' Aspirations to Adjust Cassava Retail Price
Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka gathered farmers’ aspirations regarding the adjustment of cassava commodity prices in a dialogue with 33 farmer group representatives in East Lampung Regency, Lampung, on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Vice Presidential Secretariat received in Jakarta on Wednesday, Vice President Gibran held a dialogue with representatives of 33 farmer groups with a total membership of more than 600 people. He affirmed that the government continues to accelerate the food self-sufficiency agenda as instructed by President Prabowo Subianto, through improvements to various fundamental aspects of the agricultural sector.
“Today I came to Lampung specifically to check on cassava, because this commodity still faces many dynamics and challenges,” said Vice President Gibran.
Therefore, the government went directly to the field to map the various challenges still faced by farmers.
In the dialogue with the Combined Farmer Group Association (Gapoktan) in Muara Jaya Village, the Vice President listened as farmers conveyed a number of issues they face.
These aspirations included a proposal to adjust the Highest Retail Price (HET) of cassava, the need for agricultural tools and machinery, improvements to plantation roads to smooth the distribution of harvests, and the strengthening of savings and loan cooperative financing so that farmers can obtain access to fertiliser at more affordable prices.
In response to these inputs, the Vice President affirmed that the government is committed to presenting policies capable of maintaining price stability while protecting the interests of domestic farmers. One measure deemed important is strengthening regulations related to imports of cassava and its derivative products.
In addition, the Vice President ensured that all the aspirations conveyed would promptly be discussed with the relevant ministries and agencies.
According to him, resolving the HET issue, standardising measuring equipment, and setting starch content standards will be important factors in creating a fairer cassava trade system and providing price certainty for farmers.
“The HET issue will soon be discussed with our leadership. Then the standardisation of measuring equipment and starch content. Once those three are in place, I am confident prices will be stable, no longer fluctuating, and farmers’ welfare will improve,” said Gibran Rakabuming.