JAKARTA People complain about the spread that is not only expensive, but also rare in the market. Agriculture observers assess that the expansion policy causes chain problems and indicates food politicization.
From July to mid-August the public complained about how they had difficulty getting medium and premium rice in the retail market.
The market traders association throughout Indonesia said the price of medium rice in traditional markets in Java had touched IDR 12,500-IDR 13,000 per kilogram and premium rice reached IDR 15,000-IDR 16,000 per kilogram.
Activist of the Indonesian Political Economy Association (AEPI) Khudori said the government's various steps to tame rice prices were still ineffective because they were caused by three things.
"The operation of the Supply Stabilization market and Food Price (SPHP) has not been effective, BULOG is still hunting for grain in the market through maklun partners, and production surplus has decreased. The three factors are interrelated and strengthen each other," said Khudori in a statement received by VOI.
The public has complained about the scarcity of rice in the market since at least last July. Not only rare, medium and premium rice have also experienced a significant price increase.
This happened shortly after the news circulated that mixed rice was widely sold on the market, as acknowledged by the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Retail Entrepreneurs Association (Aprindo) Solihin.
He claimed that a number of regional heads sent letters to their members to reduce rice products indicated under the quality of the storefront racks. In fact, he continued, a group of people demanded that they not sell mixed rice. On the other hand, the National Food Agency (Bapanas) still asks Aprindo to sell the rice.
"Kalau tidak (diturunkan), akan dilakukan demo besar-besaran sampai ke kantor pusat," ujar Solihin.
The government itself has started to solve one by one the problem of expansion, including adjusting the highest retail price (HET) of medium rice. The price of medium rice in zone 1 is set at IDR 13,500 per kg, zone 2 IDR 14,500 per kg, and zone 3 IDR 15,500 per kg. The decision is stated in the Decree of the Head of the National Food Agency Number 299 of 2025 concerning the Determination of the Highest Heavy Retail Price which is effective since August 22, 2025.
In addition, to reduce rice prices at the consumer level, the government has also distributed food aid in the form of rice and SPHP rice. Specifically for SPHP rice, the average realization of distribution reaches around 7,000 tons per day.
However, according to Khudori, although it started to improve, the intervention was considered too late when the price of rice had already skyrocketed.
"It is reported that this August has been 7,000-8,000 tons released to the market, but it is still small. Now this is what the rice hunger market is happening. If the hungry person has to be fed enough, even excess. The point is to saturate the market with rice. Whatever it takes," he said.
The same thing was conveyed by agricultural economic observer Ahmad Alamsyah. He noted that signs of an increase in rice prices had started to occur since April 2025 or when the first planting season was over. The price of rice began to creep up in May 2025, but the government only distributed SPHP rice in mid-July 2025, while the price of rice had already risen high.
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What kind of policy is this? This is a train lag policy. Maybe because the government is too careful not wanting to hurt farmers. However, the government does not see the impact on markets and consumers," he said.
On the other hand, Alamsyah also agrees with the government to take action against lawbreakers in the extortion sector. This is one of the government's efforts to provide a deterrent sanction to the perpetrators while protecting consumers.
However, do not let law enforcement in the food sector, especially extortion, be politicized. In that case, he said, there are two kinds of politicizations that have the potential to occur, namely criminalization and the interests of imaging public officials.
"This is not in my context of discrediting something. I just want the ministries and government agencies to return to their respective portions or roles, especially in dealing with the problem of division," he said.
To control rice prices, Khudori encouraged the government to do several things. In addition to pouring SPHP rice into the market, Khudori assessed that the government needs to make a new policy in the form of distributing rice food to 18 million households.
"The rice social assistance ends in August, it should be continued until September, October, November, December. If rice assistance is continued, there is a chance prices will fall," he explained.
"After all, Bulog's stock is big, so it's important to let it out immediately. If it is stored for a long time, it has the potential to reduce quality and volume, the quality will not be good," continued Khudori.
Empirical evidence shows that the influence of market operating rice distribution on prices is more effective if it is supported by other factors, especially fixed distributions such as Raskin (rice for poor families) in the past. This makes rice demand in the market decrease. Prices also decreased.
In addition, the government must stop its security approaches to rice management so that producers are not overwhelmed with fear.
"Even though the business they are doing is not producing drugs, liquor, or illegal goods. So this situation must be restored immediately so that trust arises to try. Because that is definitely not good, they (producers) must have a choice rather than litigants, it is better to stop," said Khudori.
Finally, Khudori emphasized that BULOG must ensure that market operating rice and food assistance are quality rice. According to his assessment, some BULOG stock rice is currently more than a year old, so it has the potential to smell like apak.
When retailmodern rice is running low, even empty, in the short term SPHP rice can be an alternative. Policy authorities must end using rice as a place to build imaging. Currently, the political tension of rice is too high, so it needs to be lowered.
At the same time, law enforcement officials must be careful. Do not let legal action become a place for criminalization and imaging tools for public officials. Before the situation worsens, recovery measures need to be taken immediately, including the two important steps above.
"Get a good note: if you have an empty stomach, your anger can peak," he concluded.
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