Shortcomings in the partnership scheme weakens the local farmers' production systemJakarta (ANTARA) - The Presidential Staff Office (KSP) urged the government to evaluate the existing partnership scheme between local farmers and the large-scale farming industry to address price hike in commodities, including eggs, amid the rising year-end demand.
"Shortcomings in the partnership scheme weakens the local farmers' production system," KSP main expert, Bustanul Arifin, stated in response to the recent commodity price hike here on Thursday.
The COVID-19 pandemic, particularly during the emergence of the Delta variant of the virus in mid-2021, drove several small-scale local farmers out of businesses and exposed vulnerabilities in the production and supply of the national chicken egg commodity, he remarked.
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With the closure of several local farming businesses, the surviving chicken egg producer found it difficult to catch up with their production to handle the rising demand for eggs, especially during the Christmas and New Year holiday period and the recent relaxation of curbs on activities, the expert pointed out.
"In essence, the existing egg farmers are struggling to fulfil the demand during the Christmas and New Year holiday period," Arifin stated.
The KSP expert advised the government against modifying the existing commodity reference price, as he was concerned that the solution would instead create more problems in other sectors.
"As we believe this is a structural issue, the KSP will communicate with the Agriculture Ministry and will discuss the restriction of layer chicken farming enacted by the integrator party," he remarked.
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Earlier, Secretary General of the Nusantara Poultry Farmers Association Kadma Wijaya noted that the surge in the price of chicken eggs was caused by the increasing household and business demand for eggs.
"The demand is up. More businesses are making cakes, while hospitality businesses have resumed their activities, and residents have begun thronging department stores again," Wijaya stated.
Apart from the increasing demand, the secretary general highlighted the provision of eggs as part of the social assistance to fulfil basic needs and local farmers that are yet to cope with their losses in July when the production of eggs by independent farmers declined by 50-60 percent, which was also causal to the price surge.
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"The decline in production is the effect of losses due to the fall in egg prices in July," Wijaya noted.
As farmers pin hopes on stability in the egg prices at the producer and customer levels, they also expect the government to be attentive to the egg farmers' livelihood, he noted.
"Egg farmers indeed want stable egg prices at the producer and customer levels, but the government must also play its role in protecting the farmers," the secretary general affirmed.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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