Ministry Of Agriculture Asked To Focus On Post-harvest Handling To Overcome Rising Chili Prices

Traders sort chilies at Kramat Jati Market, Jakarta. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission IV DPR, Johan Rosihan asked the Ministry of Agriculture to focus on post-harvest handling in order to overcome the soaring chili price hike.

"I ask the Ministry of Agriculture to take the lead so that the shrinkage of chili production can be minimized through good post-harvest management, we all understand that this chili commodity is not durable, so it needs post-harvest technology such as warehouse receipts or cold storage and others to make it more durable," said Johan Rosihan quoted from Antara, Friday 10 June 2022.

According to Johan, the Ministry of Agriculture needs to optimize post-harvest handling, because currently the yield loss from chili production is still very high, so prices often soar.

He gave an example, the average price of red cayenne pepper is Rp. 84,823 per kg, an increase of about 241.47 percent compared to last month.

"This price increase is very disturbing for consumers because kitchen shopping is a basic need for every household," he said.

For this reason, the PKS politician encourages the Ministry of Agriculture to provide special incentives to farmers who grow chilies so that their production is stable and makes breakthroughs.

He emphasized that the stability of chili production and smooth distribution is very important to maintain price stability in the market.

Johan also asked the Ministry of Agriculture to be proactive in helping farmers overcome disease attacks on chili plants as well as increase the planting area and overcome attacks by plant pest organisms (OPT).

"I hope the Ministry of Agriculture anticipates crop failures that farmers often face so that they think again about planting chilies, the government must be present to help farmers so that there is passion for chili production so that the impact on prices will be more stable," said Johan.

Previously, food observer and National Coordinator of the People's Coalition for Food Sovereignty Said Abdullah stated that G20 countries need to realize that the various impacts of current events make them aware of the importance of food security.

"The momentum of the pandemic and the addition of the Russia-Ukraine war should make us aware of it. This situation has significantly affected the degree of food security of each country," said Abdullah.

In the context of Indonesia, according to him, you should no longer depend on the global food market when other countries are competing to strengthen themselves.