Tug of War of Rice Import Continues

Perum Bulog president director Budi Waseso asked the government to immediately import rice as an alternative attempt to meet the rice reserve (CBP) target. According to him, the CBP stock in Bulog's warehouses was only 651,000 tons, or half of the ideal stock of 1.2 million tons. "If it is too late, we may not be able to absorb them in large quantities in the future because the goods are not available and the price is high," Budi said Wednesday.

However, the general chair of the Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI) Henry Saragih was against the idea. He had asked the government and Bulog not to import rice. Currently, the country's rice production could reach 5-8 tons per hectare, and there are 10.61 million hectares of paddy fields ready to harvest. "This should be enough," Henry said on Thursday. Bulog must try mobilizing rice reserves from farmers, communities, and regional administrations. "No food import to Indonesia is allowed if national production is sufficient."