Sulaiman noted at a meeting on food resilience here on Wednesday that the State Enterprises Ministry and Trade Ministry had agreed that Bulog will purchase the farmers` onions whose price has dropped by 70 percent to only Rp4 thousand (US$29 cent) per kilogram.
"We have agreed that Bulog will buy (the onions) at Rp15 thousand per kilogram. We will absorb whatever stocks they have. The State Enterprise Ministry has agreed to purchase the produce until the price returns to normal as ordered by the president," Sulaiman noted.
The minister has underlined the government`s success in achieving self-sufficiency in rice, onion, corn, and chili.
The government has halted the imports of onion in 2016 as compared to 72 thousand tons imported in 2014 and 12 thousand tons in 2015 and began exporting the commodity in 2017 to six countries, including Thailand.
However, self-sufficiency in onion was also followed by a sharp drop in the price of the commodity in Brebes from its normal rate of Rp15 thousand per kilogram to Rp4 thousand per kilogram.
"We will report this to the president, as it will harm the farmers," he added.
Meanwhile, Bulog`s Director of Procurement Andrianto Wahyu Adi has yet to affirm the agency`s readiness to absorb the onion produce, as it should be carried out under a commercial framework that will benefit Bulog.
"We will purchase the onion produce under a commercial framework. If we buy (the onion stocks), but we are not able to sell them, then we will have to dump them. We do not want it to happen; it should be balanced," Adi added.
Reported by Mentari Dwi
(S022/INE)
EDITED BY INE/a014
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
