Kementan Fair Value Price Increase Ahead Of Ramadan: Reasonable That, Will Also Fall Again

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Between)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Agriculture considers the increase in food prices ahead of Ramadan to be reasonable. Because, at that moment the demand from the public for food is high. Even so, the Head of the Food Security Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kemtan) Agung Hendriadi said it only lasted a while.

"There is indeed a price increase. This I do not deny. We always see that the coefficient of variants is below 15 percent, for us it is natural," he said in a virtual discussion 'Food Availability Ahead of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr', Monday, April 12.

Furthermore, Agung said, some food commodities that are rising at this time are chicken meat around Rp35 thousand, and chicken eggs to Rp24 thousand per kilo gram.

"Usually three days and two days before Ramadan it rises. But during Ramadan he will come back down. Back up again ahead of Eid al-Fitr usually three days before," he said.

Agung said the Ministry has been fulfilling the national food supply since a month before Ramadan to ensure food stocks are safe until Lebaran. The food stocks that are ensured safe are rice, corn, soybeans, various chilies, chicken eggs, and others.

"So from this provisional calculation until May 2021 almost everything is sufficient. And we want to repeat last year pretty well we can pretty much maintain it all," he explained.

Just for information, based on data submitted by the Ministry, the estimated national need for rice until May 2021 reached 12.33 million tons, where the total supply reached 22.79 million tons of rice. Supply of other food commodities such as garlic, shallots, chili peppers, granulated sugar, and cooking oil in safe conditions.

However, for beef and buffalo stocks there is a deficit of about 1,526 tons. The current amount is 278.6 thousand tons and the need reaches 280.1 thousand tons.