agriTECH, 41 (1) 2021, 1-7 1 Collaborative Strategy for Rice Supply Chain: A Case Study on Demak and Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java, Indonesia Adi Djoko Guritno, Novita Erma Kristanti, Megita Ryanjani Tanuputri* Department of Agro-Industrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Flora No. 1, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia *Corresponding author: Megita Ryanjani Tanuputri, Email: megita.ryanjani@mail.ugm.ac.id Submission: August 21, 2019; Revision: March 10, 2020; April 10, 2020; Acceptance: April 22, 2020 ABSTRACT The problems associated with rice production in Indonesia appear very complicated, due to poor management of the sufcient national rice stock and various unfavorable public policies. Recently, government’s directives on rice importation instigated polemics from several interests, as a result of inappropriate decisions on general rice production, with possible yearly increment. Therefore, there is need to embrace strategy development to balance demand and supply. The purpose of this study was to analyze the rice supply chain in Demak and Sukoharjo, Central Java Province, in an efort to provide efective and collaborative distribution policies at individual levels. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted for 98 respondents in a bid to acquire relevant and current information for the conceptual framework development. Furthermore, sampling methodologies, termed purposive and snowballing, were applied, followed by the preparation of interview guidelines. The results showed the farmers obtained the lowest revenue margin among other tiers, while several technical challenges were also identifed. Consequently, the activities of middlemen with excessive dominant roles in market price determination, were overemphasized, leading to an inefcient supply chain. Meanwhile, government’s position through the Indonesia Logistics Bureau (BULOG) is assumed to be vulnerable in the control of direct supply from farmers or collectors. Based on this study, intense comprehension of rice supply chain was achieved, with further provision of collaborative strategies towards promoting the balance of demand and supply. Keywords: Collaborative strategy; rice; supply chain INTRODUCTION Rice remains a signifcant staple commodity consumed by a majority of Indonesia’s 255.46 million population, with a rate extending to 117 kg/capita per year, based on 2017 data from the Ministry of Agriculture. Meanwhile, 2016 statistics showed a positive inclination in national production. Therefore, there is a high demand on government to prioritize sustainable supply in order to encourage food sovereignty. During the period between 2012-2016, the growth rate of this crop increased annually by 3.8%, and Java Island was known to contribute 51.9% of the general scale. The national rice production on 2018 was estimated at 56.54 million tons dry unhusked paddy (known as GKG), where 16.8% originated from Central Java (Statistics Indonesia, 2018). However, the country currently imports the product, with a steady increase observed in the last 3 years. In 2015, the importation volume extended to 861.63 thousand tons (Ministry of Agriculture, 2016). These provisions obviously confict with the yearly increment in terms of production. Recently, government’s policies on rice importation resulted in polemics, due to inappropriate decisions on peak harvest seasons in several provinces. The directives were expected to instigate a price reduction from local farmers and also attempt to eliminate unfair competitions (Sathapatyanon et al., 2018). DOI: http://doi.org/10.22146/agritech.48929 ISSN 0216-0455 (Print), ISSN 2527-3825 (Online)