Head Of Badanas: Good Sugar Selling Prices Give Motivation To Farmers To Continue To Produce

Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi asked the Purchase Reference Price (HAP) for consumption sugar at the producer level of IDR 12,500 per kilogram (Kg) to be implemented as soon as possible.

"Good sugar selling prices can motivate farmers to continue to produce, so that they can encourage an increase in the supply of sugar cane raw materials which can ultimately increase the availability of domestic sugar," said Arief, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, August 9.

Arief said that the price adjustments listed in Per Agency 17 of 2023 stipulated that the latest consumption of sugar HAPs were applied at IDR 12,500 per kg at the producer and HAP level at the consumer level of IDR 14,500 per kg and IDR 15,500 per kg specifically for eastern Indonesia and the Disadvantaged, Outermost, Remote, and Border (3TP) areas.

The increase in reference prices of Rp1,000 per kg, said Arief, has gone through discussions and discussions as well as input from various regulatory stakeholders.

"The regulations that we issue have certainly received input from various parties. The increase in reference prices today is based on the conditions we face in accordance with the calculation of the Basic Cost of Production which considers the increase in fertilizer prices, seeds, labor, and distribution costs that must be incurred," he said.

Meanwhile, based on the Prognosis of the National Food Agency, the balance of sugar commodities is still fulfilled from outside.

The current national consumption of sugar demand is 3.39 million tons per year, while the estimated national sugar production in 2023 is 2.7 million tons.

For the condition of consumption sugar prices, based on the Bapanas Food Price Panel, the national average price of consumption sugar at the consumer level as of August 7, 2023 was at a price of Rp. 14,658 per kg.

"As directed by President Joko Widodo who asked for food prices at the producer level, good. Then prices at traders are reasonable, to the consumer level, it is also natural. We need to collaborate with each other so that the price of consumption sugar refers to the regulations regulated in the 17th agency in 2023," he said.