Badanas: Exports And Ecosystem Development Optimizes Red Onion Production

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

JAKARTA - The National Food Agency (Bapanas) said exports and the development of upstream to downstream ecosystems in order to optimize the increase in shallot production.

"Of course, according to the duties of President Joko Widodo, I and the Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman, our job is to maintain prices at the farmer level and prepare standby buyers. This red stone is not only for the fulfillment of local consumption, it is also an export mainstay commodity. So if there is already stock and it is still excessive, we must export it," said Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Arief Prasetyo Adi in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Saturday, August 3.

The trend of increasing onion production in production center areas such as in Brebes, Central Java must be utilized optimally. The government's focus is carried out by maintaining the price of shallot producers, so that export steps are one of the strategies taken.

"We see that shallots here are being prepared for exports to Thailand, Malaysia to Vietnam, with certain specifications. This is very good. In Brebes, gradings are carried out and sorting according to export specifications. This is again being prepared, it can be 7 containers a week. There are also up to 200 grading workers, this is because the grading must be adjusted to export needs," said Arief.

He ensured that the government was present so that the shallots produced by the hard work of farmers were well utilized.

"Of course we should appreciate the Ministry of Agriculture who continues to strive to increase onion production. Thank you also to shallot farmers in various production centers such as Bima and Brebes, the quality is good and the international market is in demand," he said.

Badanas has also built a joint commitment in relation to offtakers of shallots. The existing commitment has reached 12,500 tons. This is done by embracing food SOEs and local governments.

"The National Food Agency together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Central Java Provincial Government, Bulog and ID FOOD, always strives to maintain a good price at the farmer level. So after this it will be taken offtake of approximately 12,500 tons. Hopefully after this, there will be no more price of onions falling at the farmer level. Jayalah, Indonesian farmers," said Arief.

The offtaker commitment for shallots comes from Perum Bulog for 10 thousand tons, ID FOOD for 2 thousand tons, and BUMD for Central Java for 500 tons. With that, farmers get certainty about the absorption of their products.

Judging from the release of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), regarding the Horticultural Farmer Exchange Rate (NTPH), in July the government was still able to keep it at more than 100 points, at 120.44. This achievement is still higher than early 2024 which was at 117.39.

Meanwhile, when viewed in the price index received by vegetable farmers, including shallots, in July it was at 155.27 and still quite good compared to January 2024 which was at 147.68.

Furthermore, regarding the offtaker of the shallot that has been prepared by Badanas, it was agreed that with the purchase price already in the storage warehouse, which is Rp. 16,000 per kilogram (kg). However, this is not limited to Brebes, so it can target other areas of shallot production centers.

This step also involves the Red Bawang Champion. In the future, a cooperation agreement will be held between the food SOE and the Red Bawang Champion, so that the commitment can be carried out better.