Perdagangan Antarpulau Beras di Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan

Abstract

As the main staple food, rice is a strategic commodity. Rice production is seasonal and varies among regions. On the other hand, demand for rice is relatively continuous over time throughout the country. Given the characteristics of Indonesia as an archipelagic country dominated by marine areas, inter-island rice trade is a way of bridging the distribution of rice production supply from surplus areas to those deficit one. The study aims to analyze the inter-island rice trade in South Sulawesi including dynamics of inter-island rice trade in the last two decades, distribution of rice trade, and profit margin of each trade actor. Secondary data were collected from various related agencies in Jakarta and South Sulawesi. Primary data were obtained through a survey with farmers and traders as respondents and through group discussions with key informants in 3 regencies/municipality in South Sulawesi Province. Analysis results show that dynamics of inter-island rice traded from South Sulawesi relatively unstable with an increasing trend. Peak shipments occurred in October and the largest share of rice shipments came from Pare-Pare Municipality (60.5%). Jakarta is the main destination for rice delivery with the largest number of shipments (33%), followed by Belawan and Ambon. Considering the characteristics of rice production, consumption and market integration, and importance of rice as an economic and political commodity, inter-rice trade policy can be used as an instrument for stabilizing rice prices. It is necessary to manage spatial and continuous network of marketing activities at national level, i.e. procurement, distribution and storage, according to the rice market size in each region