Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Indonesian people are very dependent on rice. Any dish is incomplete if you don't eat rice. In the current situation of rising rice prices, people will still buy it because they are already dependent on it.
On this basis, the government has made many policies regarding rice price interventions, so that rice availability has its own political dimension. The issue of rice and its connection to the political dimension also occurred in the past, to be precise when the Mataram Kingdom existed in the 8th to 10th centuries AD.
In Chronicle of Tanah Jawi (1939) explained that the King of Mataram realized that rice was very important in determining political stability and power. If there is a problem related to rice, it will definitely have an impact on power.
However, if rice can be accessed easily and cheaply, the people will praise the king for being successful in getting enough rice. On this basis, there was a view in ancient Javanese society that if there was a large supply of rice at home, people's minds would be at peace.
As a result, the kingdom in the Central Java region carried out a lot of extensification or expansion of rice cultivation. Moreover, at that time rice grew abundantly there.
When the rice reaches harvest time, all the rice produced will be given to the entire community, from urban areas to ports. As a result, the people's stomachs were full and the king's power was secure.
Imitated Suharto
In modern times, the method used by the Mataram Kingdom was imitated by President Soeharto since 1968. Ahmad Arif in Papuan Sago for the World (2019) explained that as a Javanese, Suharto was inspired by the rulers of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom who made rice a measure of prosperity and stability.
At that time, Suharto's adoption was stated in the Green Revolution policy. Through the Green Revolution, Soeharto wanted to standardize people's food consumption to all rice. In Eastern Indonesia, where sago and corn are commonly consumed, they are also converted into rice.
Even though stability can be pursued through rice extensification, negative impacts arise, namely the loss of local food varieties due to rice being replaced. As a result, when rice prices soared, they had difficulty accessing it.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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