The government ensures stocks of staples for Christmas & New Year are safe

Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo ensured that the availability of basic commodities to face the 2021 Christmas and New Year celebrations was safe and under control. Indonesia has sufficient rice stocks with ongoing production.

"There are 11 basic foods that we control and all of them are in a safe condition. So there is rice, there is corn, there is sugar, there is meat, and there are also other basic necessities. God willing, these 11 commodities will be safe until the end of next year, "said the Minister of Agriculture.

The Minister of Agriculture said that the adequacy of the eleven staples was the result of the hard work of all parties, including the one-door coordination with Bulog and the Ministry of Trade under the direct coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

"The problem of food security is the deepest, most complex, but also strategic problem. Therefore, I must not make the wrong predictions or process the data incorrectly. Alhamdulillah, we continue to carry out very tight inter-agency coordination, either with the Coordinating Ministry, Bulog, or with other ministries. We have the same mapping using digital, "he said.

The Minister of Agriculture said that so far his party regularly monitors all market developments and food availability. Especially about the availability of rice as the main need of the Indonesian people.

"So this must be mapped and we cannot differ the data from Bulog or other ministries," he said.

The President Director of Perum Bulog Budi Waseso added that the collaboration between Bulog and the Ministry of Agriculture had been going well. In fact, said Buwas, Bulog continues to monitor the existing production nets to synchronize data before absorption.

"The obligation of Bulog is to prepare food in all corners of the country. So we follow the development of the food problem, including the harvest at the Ministry of Agriculture. Alhamdulillah, we have sufficient food availability, plus a program at the Ministry of Agriculture that makes production run even more. This means that until now we have not imported, "he said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy for Food and Agribusiness Coordination, Musdhalifah Machmud, ensures that currently Indonesia as a whole is able to get past the food deficit. In fact, Indonesia has sufficient food stocks, even though it is facing the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The food deficit, thank God, can we pass. Even if our food stock is sufficient, even though the Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing. Going forward, we will continue to monitor prices every day to anticipate shortages and price spikes. So if the price starts to rise, then we ask Bulog to carry out market operations. Therefore, Bulog must immediately absorb it, "he concluded.

Based on estimates of rice availability and staple food needs and national strategic until the end of December 2020, it is still well available. The availability of rice, for example, has a surplus of 6.5 million tons, corn with a surplus of 1.5 million tons, beef with a surplus of 131 thousand tons, and chicken meat with 275 thousand tons.