FFB Prices Drop To Expensive Fertilizers, DPR Member Achmad Demands Government Responsibility

Member of the Indonesian Parliament, Achmad. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - Member of the Indonesian Parliament, Achmad, questioned the existence of the government when oil palm farmers are currently screaming and suffering as the price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) falls to the lowest price and the price of fertilizers soars.

He demanded the government to be responsible and present to solve this problem so that the community does not add to the slump after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The government must be responsible for the conditions experienced by farmers, especially oil palm farmers throughout Indonesia. The government must immediately overcome them completely and not only provide solutions that will cause new problems again", Achmad told reporters, Monday, June 27.

The Democrat politician accused the government of not making any concrete efforts to show partiality to farmers by allowing the issue of fertilizer prices to be no longer comparable to the results of farmers' gardens.

"The price of FFB is very low. As of today, the price of FFB is IDR 600/kg. And the price of palm fertilizer is very expensive. At this time the state of oil palm farmers is not present. Yes, that is the condition. Where is the country now?", he was annoyed.

Achmad said, if this continues and the government does not take policies that are truly in favor of farmers, then the government is tantamount to ignoring the fate of 17 million oil palm farmers.

"This will have fatal consequences for independent oil palm farmers and community plantations. Their lives will be threatened", said Achmad.

The legislator from the Riau II electoral district said that at that time the price of FFB was stable and rising. Fertilizer prices at the farm level also continued to creep up. However, it is not comparable when the price of FFB drops drastically, while the price of fertilizer continues to rise.

"When the price of palm oil goes up, fertilizer goes up. When the price of FFB goes down, the price of fertilizer remains high. This is a blow for farmers because the results of palm oil production and operations are no longer comparable. People will leave their plantations because the results are no longer suitable", he said.

Achmad said the chaos in the price of palm oil FFB was because the government failed to take policies and resolve the chaotic price of crude palm oil (CPO) which had a tragic impact.

This situation is even more alarming after the government lifted the ban on CPO exports. Although the price of CPO Rotterdam has fluctuated slightly in recent times, it is still economically sound.

"But the problem is that the price of CPO in Rotterdam was eroded by 62 percent during the CPO tender at KPBN (IDR 8000/kg CPO) and of course at the level of FFB prices for farmers, it must have fallen even more, in the range of 92 percent (IDR 1,700/kg FFB) with a record yield. Farmers' FFB is 21 percent. Why is that", said Achmad in his written statement.

He said that from the data on APKASINDO's FFB price complaint posts in 22 provinces, it was known that the price of self-help FFB reached IDR 1,116/kg and partner farmers had broken down by two thousand to IDR 1,700/kg.

"This price is 28-65 percent below the price determined by the Plantation Service in 22 APKASINDO Palm Oil Provinces", he said.

For this reason, Achmad urged the government to remove or reduce the downstream burden because the downstream burden is the upstream farmers.

"There is no other choice. Concretely, immediately withdraw the DMO/DPO and FO, the export will definitely go smoothly, that's the only cure", said Achmad.

Achmad also urged the government to stop 'playing' with the cooking oil crisis. According to him, it was a simple matter, but it was deliberately fried for a specific purpose.

"From the beginning, I predicted that the policy of banning the export of CPO and its derivatives would cause havoc, and it's true. The President was unable to extinguish the fires that he triggered", he said.

So, he continued, the concrete step, if you want to solve this problem, is to withdraw DMO, DPO, and FO so that the price of FFB for farmers is stable again.

"Because from this simple simulation it can be said that it is actually the oil palm farmers who bear all these burdens", he concluded.