JAKARTA - The Coordinating Ministry for Food (Kemenko Pangan) stated that the proposal of the Indonesian People's Sugarcane Farmers Association (APTRI) for sugar to be included in the food assistance program needs to be discussed across sectors with related ministries and institutions.
Assistant Deputy for Improving the Competitiveness of Plantation and Horticulture Products, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Radian Bagiyono, said the proposal would first be reported to Coordinating Minister for Food and Agriculture Zulkifli Hasan.
"We are trying to capture aspirations," said Radian, quoted by Antara, Saturday, May 30.
According to him, the government is currently continuing to capture various aspirations from food sector actors to find the best solutions in strengthening the overall governance of strategic national food commodities.
He explained that the discussion of the proposed sugar food assistance would involve related technical ministries both in the environment of the Coordinating Ministry for Food and Agriculture and other ministries that have a relationship with national food policy.
"We will try to coordinate the completion of this both within the scope of the Coordinating Ministry for Food and Agriculture and with other technical ministries outside the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Food and Agriculture," he said.
The Indonesian People's Sugarcane Farmers Association (APTRI) encourages the government to include granulated sugar as a component of the national food assistance to strengthen the protection of sugarcane farmers and maintain the balance of the domestic sugar commodity market.
APTRI assessed that the addition of sugar in food assistance could be a strategic step for the government to help maintain people's purchasing power while increasing the certainty of absorbing the production of national farmers' sugar.
According to the farmers' association, the need for sugar in food aid does not need to be as large as rice commodities because the volume of sugar consumption by the community is much smaller than the daily national rice needs.
APTRI proposes that the government simply distribute one kilogram of sugar in each food assistance package if the distribution of rice reaches 10 kilograms to the beneficiaries.
"You don't have to give a lot of sugar, because the sugar needs this volume is 10 percent of the rice needs. So if the rice is given 10 kilograms, the sugar is only 1 kilogram. If it is considered that sugar is too expensive," said APTRI Chairman Soemitro Samadikoen after opening the APTRI National Working Meeting in Jakarta, Monday (25/5).
The proposal is expected to provide convenience for sugar producers and sugarcane farmers in the face of price fluctuations while maintaining the sustainability of national sugar production for the needs of the wider community.
"So that sugar producers, sugar cane farmers can comfortably enjoy the rise and fall of sugar prices," he said.
Meanwhile, the government through Perum Bulog continues to distribute food assistance in the form of rice and cooking oil to 33.2 million beneficiary families in various regions throughout Indonesia gradually.
In the economic stimulus program, each beneficiary family receives a February-March 2026 allocation in the form of 20 kilograms of rice and four liters of cooking oil to help meet community needs.
Bulog noted that as of May 29, 2026, the realization of the distribution of food assistance had reached around 47 percent of the national target of 33.2 million beneficiary families throughout Indonesia.
Of the total realization, the food assistance that has been distributed consists of approximately 308 thousand tons of rice and 62 thousand tons of MinyaKita to maintain the stability of the national community's food supply.
The remaining food assistance allocation will continue to be distributed gradually until June 2026 after the National Food Agency extends the distribution deadline to ensure that all recipients receive assistance in accordance with the provisions.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
