SURABAYA - Member of Commission B (Economy) DPRD East Java, Ahmad Athoillah, strongly rejects the government's plan to import 1 million tons of rice. The PKB politician stated that rice imports were proof that the government was "strangling" the farmers.
"If the government imports rice, it is the same as" killing "local farmers. As a result, local farmers 'rice prices will fall and will not be absorbed in the market", said Mas Atho', his nickname, in Surabaya, Friday, March 19, 2021.
Mas Atho 'emphasized that the central government's policy regarding rice imports would be detrimental to local farmers. He suggested that the government should absorb rice from Indonesian territory, for example, East Java, which has been the national food barn.
"Rice production in East Java has so far contributed the highest nationwide. What will East Java be as a national food barn, if the government imports rice? Of course, local farmers will be disadvantaged", he explained.
Mas Atho's siding with farmers is not without reason. Based on data from the East Java Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in the third quarter of 2020, there was an increase in rice production in East Java by 0.44 million tons, from 9.58 million tons in 2019 to 10.02 million tons in 2020. This surplus places East Java as the largest rice producer in Indonesia in 2020.
In fact, said Mas Atho, rice production in East Java has an important role in food stocks in 16 provinces in eastern Indonesia. Rice production in East Java is the result of harvests from areas, which have been the barns for East Java, such as Tuban, Nganjuk, Tulungagung, Ngawi, Lamongan, Bojonegoro, Jember, and Ponorogo. "Moreover, farmers in East Java have only received subsidized fertilizer allocation, and they will start harvesting at the end of March to April", he explained.
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Because of that, Mas Atho urged the government to cancel rice imports. Mas Atho admitted that he was concerned that the government had decided to import rice when the big harvest season was coming, and it would produce abundant rice.
"The government should think again, not be hasty before making a policy. Moreover, soon the farmers will start harvesting. I think if there is a lot of rice, then wanting to import would not make sense. Unless there is a rice crisis, I think it makes sense", he said a politician from the Jombang-Mojokerto constituency.
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