Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia after Inspecting Rice Harvest at Lajer Village, Kebumen Regency, Central Java Province, March 9, 2023

By Office of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation     Date 9 Maret 2023
Category: Press Statement @en
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President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

We are having harvest season in many provinces. I have talked to farmers, they told me that the price of harvested dry unhusked rice fell to Rp4,200. This is too low. The Government is currently calculating [the price] and the National Food Agency will soon unveil the price of dry unhusked rice.

We have a calculation regarding the cost for every component in rice production. Everything has been calculated, including the land price, fertilizers, seeds, and other components. The Food Agency will announce it.

We expect that the price of unhusked rice for farmers and the price for traders will be at the fair level, and the price for consumers will also be at the fair level. Everyone will get the benefit from the calculation.

All right.

Journalist
What about the fertilizer, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)

Yesterday, during my visit to Bandung, I have heard a lot of complaints about fertilizer. Today I also got a complaint about fertilizer, because the price is high and the supply is often not sufficient, particularly the subsidized one.

We are aware that the national demand for fertilizer is approximately 13 million tons. Our fertilizer industry factories produce only 3.5 million tons. We have added 570,000 tons at Pupuk Iskandar Muda, so we have more supply.

Our import is 6.3 million tons. It means that we don’t have sufficient fertilizer production. We will immediately take the necessary measures to overcome it. Everyone should be aware that raw material and fertilizer production are affected by war between Russia dan Ukraine. This is the problem that every country in the world is facing today.

That concludes my statement.

(RI/MMB)

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