Rice insights

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — An agricultural observer from the Indonesian Political Economic Association, Khudori, highlighted the price disparity in the national rice supply chain. According to him, current pricing policies benefit farmers but put pressure on downstream business actors such as millers and traders. "It doesn't make sense if the government purchase price for unhulled rice increases, but the maximum retail price for rice is not adjusted," said Khudori during a discussion held by the Indonesian Agricultural Economics Association (Perhepi) in Jakarta on Monday (14/7/2025). He explained that the government has indeed raised the government purchase price (HPP) for unhulled rice to IDR 6,500 per kilogram. With production costs of around IDR 4,836 per kg, farmers enjoy a profit margin of up to 34 percent. However, downstream actors must buy unhulled rice at higher market prices, reaching up to IDR 7,500 to IDR 8,000 per kg. On the other hand, the maximum retail price (HET) ...

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The rice sector is currently in the spotlight. Several major producers are suspected of being involved in mixing premium rice with low-quality rice. An investigation by the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) together with food supervision teams in several regions found that branded rice is sold at premium prices, but its contents are actually mixed with medium-grade rice. This means it does not meet premium rice quality standards. Citing official Kementan information, here are the quality rules for premium rice: 1. According to the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) 6128:2020, premium rice has a maximum moisture content of 14 percent 2. Premium rice must have at least 85 percent whole grains and a maximum of 14.5 percent broken grains. 3. These rice quality provisions are reinforced by National Food Agency Regulation Number 2 of 2023 on Rice Quality and Labeling Requirements, and Minister of Agriculture Regulation Number 31/PERMENTAN/PP.130/8/2017 on Rice Quality Classes.

On July 8th, under the supervision of customs officers from the Huangpu Customs' Zengcheng Customs branch, a batch of approximately 1.6 tons of Xian Jin Feng, glutinous rice cake, and osmanthus-flavored lychees successfully departed from Guangzhou Zengcheng via air export. The exported Xian Jin Feng and glutinous rice lychees represent mid-to-late maturing lychee varieties from Zengcheng District. Especially the Xian Jin Feng lychee, a local specialty cultivated from a single seedling tree in Jigan Village, Xian Village Town, features a flattened heart-shaped fruit with snow-white, fragrant and sweet flesh. The term "Jin Feng" originates from its predecessor "Yan Zhi Hong" which was once presented as a tribute, while "Xian" represents the nurturing land of Xian Village Town. "Lychees are perishable fresh fruits. As time passes, each decline in freshness corresponds to a decrease in fruit sweetness, taste quality, and a notable increase in loss rate. These loss costs directly reflect in pricing, and excessively high prices can impact export sales volume," explained He Jialang, Vice General Manager of Guangzhou Yixian Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. To help export lychees gain more "preservation time", Zengcheng Customs proactively intervened in the export declaration process, providing "one-on-one" policy guidance, interpreting import country requirements for fresh fruit, packaging norms, and quarantine standards. They strengthened daily supervision of orchards and packaging facilities, offering professional technical support from tree maintenance and pest control to fruit sorting and packaging, controlling fruit quality from the source. Additionally, the customs opened a "green channel" for lychee exports, providing "7×24 hour" advance clearance services, prioritizing inspection and certification for exported lychees, compressing overall clearance time to enable same-day harvesting and export, minimizing loss rates during customs clearance and effectively ensuring lychee freshness and taste. Data shows that from January to July 10th, Zengcheng Customs' jurisdiction declared 30 batches of lychee exports, totaling approximately