"We encourage regional governments to build inter-regional cooperation (KAD) as an effort to accommodate regions with deficit produce or high prices, such as for red cayenne pepper," Bapanas head, Arief Prasetyo Adi, stated on Wednesday.
Currently, the supply of CRM to the Kramat Jati Market in Jakarta has decreased by around six percent also on account of a decrease in harvest products, he pointed out.
Despite supply to the market being still relatively normal at around 30 tons per day, Bapanas has coordinated with various parties, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the farmers' community, to continue to supply 3-5.5 tons of the commodity to the market.
Moreover, in order to support stability in the supply and price of chilies in the Main Market, Bapanas also facilitates Food Distribution (FDP) from surplus areas to deficit areas through inter-regional cooperation (KAD) by optimizing the use of regional budget and Unexpected Spending (BTT) funds, Adi remarked.
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"We also regularly attend the Inflation Coordination Meeting held by the Ministry of Home Affairs and continue to remind that each region must utilize these funds to maintain the stability of food supplies and prices in their respective regions," he remarked.
In addition, through deconcentration funds allocated by Bapanas, regional governments continue to intensify the Affordable Food Movement (GPM) in all regions. To date, total GPM activities have reached 1,133 locations, with 257 locations in 35 provinces and 876 locations in 332 districts and cities.
The Bapanas Food Price Panel, on October 30, showed that the national average price of CRM at the producer level was Rp50,310 per kg, way above the reference purchase price (HAP) of Rp25 thousand to Rp31,500 per kg.
The highest price of CRM was recorded in North Sulawesi at Rp72,500 per kg and the lowest in South Sulawesi, at Rp25,400 per kg. At the consumer level, the national average price of CRM was Rp51,872 per kg, still above the HAP of Rp40 thousand-Rp57 thousand per kg. The highest price was recorded in Maluku, at Rp93,419 per kg, and the lowest in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), at Rp43 thousand per kg.
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Translator: Kuntum Khaira, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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