Chicken farmers lost Rp 5.4 trillion. Smells of cartels and monopoly being on a chicken farm. Independent breeders think this practice is happening in the marketing of Day Old Chicken (DOC) seeds. This will immediately be forwarded to the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU).
Alvino Antonio, General Chairperson of the Indonesian People’s Farmers Association (PPRN), explained that there was a cartel that decided prices at the farmer level or what is known as chicken farming. Alvino believes that the DOC price is always the same and is marketed by other farmers.
He relates that the price being peddled seems to have been played by several factions to the point that antitrust practices are taken into account in determining the DOC price.
“We complain that there is a cartel suspicion. If selling tillers are always solid. The price is always the same, either low or high the same. That’s why the price is always the same, now the range is IDR 7,500 per capita always. The price is the same,” said Alvino when met on Monday (22/3/2022) at the KPPU office, Central Jakarta.
The problem is, the price that the cartel says is now really far from the basic price set by the government. He explained that the reference price for the Ministry of Trade was Rp. 5,000 to Rp. 6,000 per capita.
“The price of DOC is not well regulated, even though the reference from the Ministry of Trade is around Rp. 5,000 to Rp. 6,000. Even though it can actually be up to Rp. 7,000,” said Alvino.
Not only did Alvino report antitrust practices in setting DOC prices, but also found that the distribution of DOC from farms was unfair. According to him, many independent farmers do not get chicken seeds.
The smell of the cartel behind the loss of chicken farmers amounting to Rp. 5.4 trillion. According to him, farms that sell chicken seeds do not sell chicks as stipulated. In the provisions of the Ministry of Agriculture, he said that breeding farms are required to sell a minimum of 50% of seeds to people’s gardens. The second hand can be marketed to affiliates or integrator breeders.
But in reality, Alvino believes that a large number of farms are currently selling more DOC to affiliated farms than to external farms. According to him, this is a monopoly practice and results in a shortage of chicks.
“Therefore, DOC farms are prioritized over internal vehicles and their affiliates. Even though the Ministry of Agriculture actually controls agriculture to sell 50 percent to outside companies, it’s not just cooperation,” said Alvino.
What are the disadvantages of calculated antitrust practices for some farmers?
Remembering the high price of DOC, he predicts that he will add the cost of working on the broiler chickens called livebirds. At that time, prices could not be increased and had to follow a market process that was regulated by the government.
“The high price of DOC affects the harvest time. The HPP that occurs is the higher the price in the market. Also, the price will definitely go down if there is a lot of supply. That’s what happened.” why two years of loss of Rp 5.4 trillion.
“This is what we ask for what needs to be given for the loss in 2022-2022,” he said.
Alvino explained how the loss occurred due to antitrust practices. He said the price of live birds, aka chicken pieces, was only Rp. 19,000 per bird.
The price was determined by considering the most expensive DOC, namely Rp. 6,000. This means that the DOC price is IDR 7,000 per capita because of that the cost of working on the marketed chickens increases.
Livebird referrals Rp. 19,000. The basis for calculating the DOC price is Rp. 6,000. “If the current DOC gets Rp 7,000, the price of our loss, the HPP will increase,” said Alvino.
Based on Article 1365 of the Civil Code, the government is obliged to stop losses that are still felt by independent farmers. Cq. Mr. Alvino Antonio, took action in accordance with his authority based on legal provisions and compensated for the loss of smallholder farmers in the amount of 5.4 trillion.
