Faisal Basri: Rice Consumption Declines During Ramadan, So Why Import 1 Million Tons Of Rice!

JAKARTA - Senior economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), Faisal Basri, rejects the plan to import 1 million tons of rice this year. There are several reasons why he opposed the government's wishes, one of which is the decreased consumption of rice during the fasting month or Ramadan.

Faisal said that based on his observations, the price level was relatively stable. Including there is no threat to the price of rice in the market. Thus, there is no early warning system indicating that rice imports must be imported.

"I have faith that before the fasting month, the price will be relatively stable because people fasting for rice consumption will decrease. So don't make this up, justify this import," said Faisal Basri in a virtual discussion, Monday, March 22.

Moreover, he said, food consumption, especially rice, has also decreased from time to time. This illustrates that tasted imports are not needed.

"Consumption of rice has also decreased from time to time. The average consumption for a week shows a continuous decline. Pressure on production has not increased too much or may not have increased," he explained.

In addition, said Faisal, there were a number of improvement trends in performance and agricultural supporting infrastructure in the country. In fact, amidst the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agricultural sector has actually recorded positive growth. Where the food crop sub-sector has grown positively by 3.54 percent or the highest in the last five years.

Not only that, he said, in the last two years there has been an improvement in the momentum of improving national food security. This can be seen from the success of the government in continuously increasing the availability of land for the rice commodity. As compiled by the Area Sampling Frame (KSA) method.

"Our land has increased for rice from 7.1 million hectares (ha) to 7.46 million hectares from the results of the new approach to estimate through KSA, for example," he said.

Then, Faisal said, another reason he refused to import rice was that the current supporting infrastructure for the rice agricultural sector had been established. This follows the government's quick action in building infrastructure in various parts of Indonesia.

Therefore, according to Faisal, it is very ironic if the government is still insisting on opening the rice import tap at this time. This is because the condition of the domestic agricultural sector is currently in a positive trend.

"So, this is another momentum to brazen (our agriculture) to be even stronger. I am really surprised by the plan to import food in the midst of this trend," he said.

Previously, the Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi confirmed that there would be no imports of rice when it entered the main harvest period so that prices on the market would be safe. He emphasized that the plan to import 1 million tons of rice is not to destroy the price of rice for farmers.

"I guarantee that there will be no imports during the main harvest season. And today there will be no imported rice that will destroy farmer prices because nothing has been imported yet," he said in a virtual press conference, Friday, March 19.

Furthermore, Lutfi said the government had never stated that domestic rice production was insufficient or excessive. But what is always emphasized is that Bulog must have a reserve stock or iron stock of 1 million to 1.5 million tons.

"The stock number is the basic principle of the government that we have had for years. Then Bulog will hold the procurement both locally and internationally," he said.

Furthermore, Lutfi said the import he meant was a policy to fulfill Bulog's stock. According to him, this is precautionary considering the low absorption capacity of grain by Bulog in March, where the rainy season factors have an impact on the wetness of the grain.

Lutfi said the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 24 of 2020 regulates the conditions for absorbing grain. One of them is the problem of the level of dryness or moisture content of the grain. Therefore, Bulog can only absorb 85 thousand tons of unhulled rice.