REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TUBAN -- Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said the government must control the imports and increase the export of strategic commodities like corn.

"For whatever reasons, we must control the imports and maximize our exports," he said in his speech during a visit to Prunggahan Kulon village in Tuban, East Java, on Wednesday.

He said if the price of corn dropped, imports would be stopped to stabilize the price.

Controlling imports would encourage the farmers to improve the productivity of their corn, rice or other commodities.

He said besides controlling imports, the government will also continue improving the infrastructure and trade system and will provide subsidy, superior seeds and farming equipment to farmers.

He said the government has withheld 480,000 tons of corn that was imported at a number of ports, including in Medan, so that the domestic price of corn would not soar.

Before the imports were held, the price of wet corn stood at Rp1.500 per kilogram but after that, the price of dry corn rose from Rp2,500 to Rp3,200 per kilogram.

"If the price falls, imports will be stopped," he said.

The minister said food problems must be settled right from upstream to downstream levels, from production to sale point levels, to prevent price fluctuations.

He said out of 480,000 tons of imported corn, 135,000 tons of the produce has entered East Java but has been held and kept at the Logistic Agency warehouse.

He said import was not the issue to be discussed. Instead, increasing productivity was a more pressing issue.

Therefore, any differences between President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla about the need to import the commodity need not be turned into a problem, the minister said.

He said what was important was how to meet the domestic needs and increase the welfare of the people, especially farmers.

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