INDEF Says Cassava And Sago Can't Be An Alternative To Wheat

Executive Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Tauhid Ahmad. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Executive Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Tauhid Ahmad said alternative food ingredients such as cassava flour and sago flour have not been able to replace wheat in Indonesia.

“It is not easy to replace wheat. First, wheat substitution is only a small part, for example cassava for food raw materials. There are not many substitute ingredients for instant noodle and bread products and it is rather difficult, it is relatively limited," said Tauhid Ahmad as quoted by Antara, Friday, July 22.

Tauhid said that Indonesia cannot grow wheat because of the tropical climate that does not support wheat plants to grow in the country, so Indonesia must import wheat from wheat-producing countries.

"The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the main cause of high wheat prices at the global level. The two countries plus Belarus are the largest wheat producing countries in the world. These countries hold their wheat stocks from being sold outside," he said.

For that, he said, apart from only being used for flours, which are relatively limited, Indonesia is still relatively small in seeking substitutes for wheat.

Meanwhile, for rice commodities, he continued, Indonesia can look for alternatives that can be replaced, so there is no suitable solution to replace wheat at this time.

He reminded, as for the increase in logistics costs such as the increase in fuel which is quite high.

Meanwhile, fuel for travel is mainly for ships, thus causing additional costs for grain shipments from abroad.

Tauhid added that the price of wheat in Indonesia has risen above 26 percent since the beginning of 2022.

The effect of the increase in wheat prices can be directly felt by the public, especially with the increase in prices for daily consumption goods, especially instant noodles.

The Executive Director of Indef also said wheat is not a national strategic staple, so that wheat imports are entirely carried out by the private sector, so that the increase in global wheat prices will be directly felt by the public and partly because there are almost no substitute materials.

"For example, fried foods are made of flour (wheat), if you replace it, it will taste different. Maybe you can use rice flour, there is but you can't have a lot and consumers will not be happy," he said.

According to data obtained from the Market Monitoring System and Basic Needs (SP2KP) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, as of July 1, 2022, the price of wheat flour has increased by 13.46 percent.

At the beginning of 2022, the national price of wheat flour was recorded at only Rp. 10,400 per kilogram, now it is Rp. 12,000 per kilogram.