Stabilizing The Soaring Egg Prices, These Are Steps Taken By The National Food Agency

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The price of eggs in the last few days has soared to touch the figure of IDR 31.000 per kilogram (kg).

The National Food Agency (Bapanas) coordinates with the association of layer breeders and broilers to identify the factors causing the soaring price of chicken eggs so that appropriate stabilization steps can be taken.

Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi said the price of eggs is currently looking for a new equilibrium due to the increase in production costs, also due to the COVID-19 pandemic some time ago.

Especially for corn for feed, said Arief, the National Food Agency has connected production center areas such as Sumbawa, Dompu with Layer Breeder Centers in Blitar and Kendal so that it can run well.

"There are changes in DOC prices, other cost structures such as feed costs and transportation costs. This will certainly have an impact on changes in egg prices," he said in a written statement quoted on Friday, August 26.

Arief said, in finding the balance of upstream and downstream food, all parties at the same time collaborate so that they can create conditions in which farmers and ranchers are prosperous, traders are profitable, the community is smiling.

Furthermore, Arief said, in order to overcome this price spike, his party will cooperate with the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture to carry out Market Operations if the price of eggs does not go down to below Rp. 30,000 per kg in the next few days.

"We continue to coordinate intensively with the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, and the Food Task Force. Today, the Director General of PKH, Ministry of Agriculture has agreed to take stabilization steps including Market Operations," he said.

Arief said that the collaborative efforts involving associations and cooperating with relevant Ministries and Institutions are in line with the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo, that in solving food problems, collaboration of all stakeholders is needed.

Arief said the NFA had formulated steps to strengthen the poultry sector in a sustainable manner in the last few weeks, including through the drafting of the Purchase/Sales Reference Price (HAP) which had been discussed with all national poultry stakeholders.

Because this HAP is not implemented, we will carry out Market Operations.

The results of the discussion proposed that the HAP of Dry Pipil Corn KA was 15 percent IDR 4.200 per kg at the farmer level, and IDR 5.000 per kg at the farmer level.

HAP Chicken Eggs are IDR 22.000 to IDR 24.000 per kg at the farmer level and IDR 27.000 per kg at the consumer.

In addition, the preparation of a scheme for the absorption of poultry products by food SOEs, namely Bulog and PT Berdikari as members of the Food SOE Holding and also the Private Sector.

"So the solution for strengthening the poultry sector that we have prepared is in line. Downstream we encourage Food SOEs to absorb, upstream we secure price certainty through the HAP regulation, so that everything is measurable," said Arief.