"We are glad the white pepper price continues to rise. At present, white pepper price at farmers' level is at Rp75-76 thousand for a kilogram," Sabri, a white pepper farmer, said in Bengkayang District, West Kalimantan Province, on Monday.
Sabri said he hoped the price would continue to rise to a favorable level, and observed the current price has tended to fluctuate.
"We hope the white pepper price would steadily rise to Rp100 thousand (around US$7) for a kilogram. A favorable white pepper price would be advantageous for us, particularly amidst the economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic," Sabri remarked.
Another white pepper farmer from Sambas District, Tinjo, reported that the price of white pepper in his region has reached Rp78 thousand (around US$5.46) per kilogram.
"Praise be to God, the white pepper price is favorable to us, we hope the price would rise until Rp100 thousand," Tinjo remarked.
Related news: Boost welfare of farmers, fishermen for advancing food sovereignty: MP
He said that farmers in Sendoyan village, Sambas district could not profit from the recent price hike as their crops had been infected by plant disease.
"Pepper farmers in my region decided to halt their farming after their crops were infected by plant disease after being affected by floods in early 2021," Tinjo informed.
He said he hoped the regional government would assist pepper farmers whose crops were affected by disease.
"White pepper production in this region has been hampered by spoiled crops due to plant infection. We are afraid the commodity price would fall again if we cannot catch up with the production rate. We do not want that to happen because pepper farming is our livelihood," he said.
According to the West Kalimantan Agriculture and Farming Office, around 11 thousand hectares of land in the province are under pepper cultivation, with the total production capacity pegged at 24 thousand tons. The major pepper-producing areas in the province include Bengkayang, Sambas, Sanggau, and Sintang Ddistricts.
Related news: Govt distributes 3.2 mln tons of subsidized fertilizers to farmers
Translator: Dedi, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
