REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman has hinted that the government will raise the purchasing prices of farmers' rice and unhusked rice to anticipate a slump in the prices of the food staple during the harvest time.
"We will discuss the purchasing prices with the President after leaving here," he said when attending a rice grand harvest at Sukamelang village, West Java, on Wednesday.
But he refused to divulge how much the purchasing prices of rice and unhusked rice would be raised.
Also present at the event were West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, Indramayu district head Anna Sophanah, chief of farmers and fishermen group (KTNA) Winarno Tohir, and several lawmakers.
West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan earlier asked the government to subsidize the prices of rice and unhusked rice as part of effort to protect the prices during the harvest time.