When rice prices rose, farmers hoped to profit, but the government instead directly imported rice, which caused the price to plummet again.
Such a thing has led many farmers to switch to the commodity of rice.
The shift of farmers to non-rice commodities should not be allowed, as rice is a staple food in Indonesia.
If this trend continues, it is not unlikely that Indonesia's rice production will decline in the future and its dependence on imported products will increase.
Choirul Anam is an activist at the Comuniakasi Forum of Agricultural and Rural Training Center, in Blitar district, East Java.
He talks about this issue from the point of view of the farmers.
