JAKARTA: Indonesia hopes to encourage farmers to plant more soybeans as the government plans to buy the commodity at 10,000 rupiah (RM3) per kilogramme, if it's produced domestically.
National Food Agency head, Arief Prasetyo Adi, said by setting the price at a reasonable rate, it will ensure profitability for those who grow soybeans, according to Antara news.
"There will also be a minimum purchasing price for farmers who plant soybeans to ensure that soybean farmers make a profit. If profitable, farmers will indeed be motivated to plant soybeans," Arief said on Tuesday.
Domestically, soybean production is less than 250 tonnes annually despite the nationwide soybean demand reaching 2 million tonnes per year.
The State Logistics Board (Bulog) and state-owned holding company ID Food and its subsidiaries are expected to be the off-takers of domestic soybeans.
"Today, the (soybean) price in the CBOT Chicago Board is at 7,700 rupiah (USD 0.51) per kilogramme, while we want the purchase price for our farmers at 10,000 rupiah. We will monitor this and be prompt because we want to boost the domestic soybean production," Arief added.
President Joko Widodo had ordered that efforts be taken to increase soybean productivity from 1–1.5 tonnes per hectare to 3–5 tonnes per hectare.
In support of this, the Agriculture Ministry will plant soybeans on a total plot of 600,000 hectares, with the first phase of the planting taking place on 350,000 hectares, in selected farmlands.
The government is also encouraging the utilisation of genetically modified (GMO) soybean plants to increase productivity. Imported soybeans are mostly GMOs.