As producers, farmers frequently have no power to determine the price of their produce.
By
MELATI MEWANGI/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI
·5 minutes read
As producers, farmers frequently have no power to determine the price of their produce. They are forced to bow to the market. However, this is not the case with a group of creative farmers in West Java. The farmers want to be sovereign over their production.
“This evening, send 600 sacks with 7 kilograms of rice each to Sindang [Indramayu]. Choose the good quality, premium rice,” said chairman of Tani Mulus Joint Farmers’ Group (Gapoktan) Muhaemin, 37, when calling workers at a rice mill in Mundak Jaya village, Cikedung district, Indramayu regency, on Thursday, Oct. 10.
The rice was meant for the government’s non-cash food aid (BPNT) program. The premium rice, which is white, clean and bug-free, is sold to agents (e-shops) for Rp 10,200 per kg. For quality maintenance, Muhaemin conducts spot checks at rice mills as the group’s partners.
As of this month, Tani Mulus delivers 4.2 tons of rice to Sindang for the BPNT program. Previously, from 2017, the group had distributed 47 tons of rice to Cirebon city for the same program and around 6 tons per month to Bongas, Indramayu.
Apart from the BPNT, the group also sends premium rice under the Tani Mulus brand to Yogya supermarket and Carrefour in Indramayu, Cirebon and even Bandung. So far, said Muhaemin, as the producer of 1.7 million tons of rice, Indramayu owned almost no rice under its own brand. Indramayu rice is often packed with other labels.
In addition to white rice, the group also produces brown and black rice with a lower grade of sugar. White rice is sold at Rp 11,500 per kg to modern retailers or far above the government purchase price (HPP) of Rp 7,300 per kg. Brown rice is priced at Rp 16,000 per kg and black rice at Rp 18,000 per kg.
Besides higher than the HPP and market price, the price received by farmers from modern retailers is more stable. “Rice demand can reach 460 tons per month. But our capacity is still 46 tons,” he said.
The rice comes from the 174 members of Gapoktan Tani Mulus who manage 150 hectares of land. Farmers also receive guidance to produce quality rice through the supply of high-yielding seedlings as well as the use of organic fertilizers.
Challenging the market
Gapoktan Tani Mulus also absorbs farmers’ unhulled rice at a higher price than that paid by middlemen. The premium unhulled rice is then hulled at the mill owned by H. Muhalim, 44, a partner of Gapoktan. By processing, packaging and marketing rice independently, farmers are not worried about any slump in the value of their harvests.
Although not yet fully accomplished, Gapoktan Tani Mulus has strived to solve farmers’ classic problem: price slumps during harvest time. “It happened once that 1 quintal of unhulled rice was worth 3 quintals of chemical fertilizer. Now we have no fear of its recurrence because we have Gapoktan. In the harvest early this year, my unhulled rice was bought at Rp 4,100 per kg of dried harvested grains (GKP). In the hands of middlemen the price dropped to Rp 3,800 per kg,” said Rawinda, 38, a farmer.
When the price of unhulled rice soars to Rp 5,800 per kg like today, Gapoktan bids as high as Rp 6,000 per kg for farmers’ dried milled grains (GKG). He has sold 3 tons of unhulled rice and earned Rp 18 million. The sum almost covers the production capital of Rp 24 million to cultivate 1.4 hectares of land. He has kept a stock of 9 tons of unhulled rice.
The low chemical residue is one of the reasons for the acceptance of Tani Mulus rice by the modern retail market. Based on laboratory tests, no residue beyond the required threshold is detected in the rice for such chemicals as flutolanil, diquat and chlordane.
“We’re also exploring premium rice exports with a company in Switzerland. A memorandum of understanding has been made. Padjadjaran University has provided assistance,” said Muhaemin.
Organic farmers in Pringkasap, Pabuaran, Subang regency, have also attempted to resist submitting to the market by forming Paguyuban Bumi Mandiri. The group of 58 farmers produces rice without pesticides labeled as Pringkasap.
The farmers’ unhulled rice is bought by this group for Rp10,000 per kg, which is significantly higher than the HPP price of Rp 4,600 per kg of GKG. The product is also sold to consumers in Jakarta and Bandung online for Rp 20,000 per kg for white rice, Rp 25,000 per kg for brown rice and Rp 35,000 per kg for black rice.
Gapoktan Tani Mulus and Paguyuban Bumi Mandiri serve as a small example of farmers’ effort to challenge the market. They have succeeded in creating their own market through distribution reordering and innovations. While farmers are in a position to do so, the government should have the same competence.