Commission IV reminds that the government has to ensure food availability in the entire regions to anticipate food price fluctuation
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) has urged the Agriculture Ministry to sustainably mitigate the impact of climate change to meet domestic food demand and prevent a spike in food prices.

The commission has also asked the ministry to increase the added value of products and their competitiveness while also considering the ecosystem's supporting power, head of DPR’s Commission IV Sudin informed during an opinion hearing meeting here on Monday.

The commission has asked the ministry to preserve staple food supply across Indonesia in order to maintain price stability and prevent market fluctuations.

"Commission IV reminds that the government has to ensure food availability in the entire regions to anticipate food price fluctuation, especially in dealing with major a national religious day," he said.

To ensure price stability by preserving the availability of food supply, the commission asked the ministry to survey food stock data and make sure that it aligns with what is available on the field, he added.

Unsynchronized data related to the achievement of staple commodity production can potentially lead to a mistake in decision-making, specifically in the agriculture sector, Sudin explained.

There is a concern that this can hamper the realization of the agriculture development target, he added.

"By the end of the day, this can harm farmers. To this end, agriculture data synchronization and harmonization has become an urgent matter to be done periodically," he remarked.

During the meeting, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said that the staple food stock until the end of 2022, especially for fulfilling the demand during Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr, is secured.

"The condition of food availability for January–December 2022, based on the balance sheet prognosis of 12 staple food commodities, which encompass rice, corn, soy, red onion, and others, is relatively secured," he added.

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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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