Shallot farmers stage a demonstration at the Cirebon Regent’s office in West Java, Wednesday (11/10). They demand that the regional government implement Trade Ministry Regulation No. 27/2017 on the reference price of commodities at the farmer and consumer levels. The price of shallots at the farmer level has presently dropped to Rp 6,000 per kilogram, whereas the government’s reference price is Rp 15,000 per kilogram for wet commodities.
CIREBON, KOMPAS – Food farmers and commodity agribusinesses urge the government to help them as crop prices plummet. They ask the government not only to react when food prices skyrocket, but also to care for farmers who are facing bankruptcy as crop prices fall.
Farmers are demanding the central and regional governments’ commitment to purchase their crops at predetermined reference prices. The price of shallots in Cirebon, West Java, has plummeted to Rp 6,000 (44 US cents) per kilogram at the farm level. This is far below the reference price of Rp 15,000 per kilogram set by the government.
Because of the situation, shallot farmers protested at the Cirebon Regent’s office on Wednesday (11/10/2017). The farmers demanded the regional government ensure that shallot prices at farm level would not fall again in the future.
“When prices go up, the Agriculture Ministry comes to us and asks us to lower the prices. The ministry even imports shallots. But where are they when prices fall at the farm level?” said H Darmu, 68, a shallot farmer from Pabuaran, in a meeting with representatives of the Cirebon administration.
Darmu said that he only made Rp 144 million in three months from producing 24 tons of shallots on his 2-hectarefarm. His income does not cover the planting budget of Rp 240 million, used to buy seeds and pay farm workers’ wages; it does not include the cost of pesticides.
Darmu said he questioned the Trade Minister’s Regulation No. 27/2017 on the reference price of commodities at the farm and consumer levels. The regulation, issued in May, stipulates a reference price of Rp 15,000 per kilogram at farm level for wet shallots. The actual selling price at farm level is Rp 6,000 per kilogram.
At the same time, farmers do not have adequate storage facilities for shallots, a perishable commodity. “In the end, we are forced to sell our shallots at a low price,” said Rahmat Gumilar, 28, a farmer from Gebang.
Shallot farmers in East Java are having a similar experience. Since their last harvest in August, the price has gone down from Rp 15,000 per kilogram to the current maximum price of Rp 10,000 per kilogram.
East Java Shallot Farmers’ Association head Akad said that the government should immediately regulate the shallot price.
“When the shallot price goes up, the government appoints state logistics agency Perum Bulog to purchase shallots from farmers at Rp 15,000 per kilogram. Now, as the price drops to Rp 10,000 per kilogram at the farm level, the government does nothing,” Akad said.
Chili farmer Ahmad Jamali voiced a similar complaint in Wongsorejo district, Banyuwangi. He said he deplored the government’s neglect of chili farmers as prices fell. This was in stark contrast to the government’s rapid response when chili prices rose.
“In February, the horticulture director general and the agriculture agency head came to my farm to speak with me. They told me not to sell my chilies at high prices. But where are they as the price plummets? Why are they silent, as if everything was fine?” Ahmad said.
He said the price of chilies rose to Rp 80,000 per kilogram at the farm level in February, when the government struck a deal with Wongsorejo farmers.
As the price of chili pepper rose above Rp 40,000per kilogram, the farmers were persuaded to sell their chili harvests to Perum Bulog at a maximum price of Rp 40,000 per kilogram. The government then promised to distribute seeds and agriculture equipment to the farmers. The price of chilies at the farm level has been Rp 5,500 per kilogram for the past month.
Falling prices
The fate of nutmeg farmers is not much better than that of chili farmers. Nutmeg farmers Ahmad Sameth, 70, from Larike village in the West Leihitu district of Central Maluku regency, Maluku, said that the nutmeg price had plummeted to Rp 57,000 per kilogram at the farm level. This was the lowest price for the crop since the 1998 financial crisis.
“During President Abdurrahman Wahid’s administration, we had the highest price for nutmeg. It reached Rp 100,000 per kilogram,” he said.
The government is urged to help farmers with marketing, as middlemen still frequently controlled the nutmeg price.
The pepper price has also dropped. Many pepper farmers are struggling to maintain their pepper farms. In the past year, the pepper price in the Bangka Belitung Islands and the Riau Islands had nosedived as farmers were forced to accept the price set by collectors.
In the Bangka Belitung Islands, the pepper price plunged from about Rp 160,000 per kilogram to Rp 70,000 per kilogram. Meanwhile, in the Riau Islands, the price dropped from Rp 190,000 per kilogram to Rp 75,000 per kilogram.
Traders said that they could not buy the crop at a high price. “There’s no other place for us to sell our crop,” said Hasan, a farmer in Lingga, the Riau Islands.
Central Bangka pepper farmer Feni said that the pepper price had been falling since early 2016. This was despite the fact that the price reached over Rp 200,000 per kilogram in 2015. “There is nothing we can do. We don’t determine the price,” she said.
Lampung pepper farmers are also affected by the plummeting price. During the July 2017 harvest, the pepper price at the farm level was only Rp 45,000 to Rp 50,000 per kilogram. This was lower than last year’s pepper price of Rp 100,000 per kilogram.
“I only made Rp 7,350,000 from selling about 150 kilograms of pepper,” said pepper farmer Supangat, 50, in Sukadana Baru village of Margatiga district, East Lampung regency.
