Bulog To Buy 1 Million Tons Of Rice In E. Java

Sumenep, E Java, Feb 29 (ANTARA) - The East Java regional division of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) plans to buy 1 million tons of rice from local farmers this year. "Since early this year we have bought rice and unhulled rice. Until the end of February we have bought 10 thousand tons of rice," the deputy head of the agency`s regional division, Gede Rempiana said here on Tuesday. "We have originally planned to buy 900 thousand tons of rice from local farmers this year. However, we later revised upward the target to 1 million tons," he said. He expressed optimism the target could be achieved if the planting season was not disrupted due to the extreme weather. Bulog would buy rice from local farmers according to the base purchasing price (HPP) set by the government. "Up till now there has not been official announcement on the base purchasing price. But we have bought medium standard rice at Rp6,500 a kg and dry unhulled rice at Rp4,300 a kg," he said. He said the agency would always coordinate with the local government to see which areas in East Java entered grand harvest time. "When an area enters grand harvest time we will send a task force there to buy as much rice as possible according to the government-set base purchasing price. One of Bulog`s tasks is to buy as much rice as possible (from local farmers) to build national stocks," he said.