Agricultural development remains on the periphery<\/p>\n
Hyginus Hardoyo, Jakarta<\/p>\n
At the start of his presidential term a year ago, Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono promised to put the agricultural sector on top
\nof his government policy agenda with the aim of increasing rural
\nhousehold incomes from both farm and off-farm activities.<\/p>\n
As part of the realization of his promise, Susilo officially
\nlaunched in June a revitalization plan for the country's
\nagricultural development together with two other sectors --
\nfisheries and forestry -- with the hope of enabling the country
\nto achieve an economic growth target of 6.6 percent annually over
\nthe next five years and to help reduce unemployment and poverty.<\/p>\n
In addition to improving the rural development program as the
\nmain source of the livelihood of the people, the revitalization
\nplan was needed on the grounds that the country's three sectors
\nhad been lagging behind as compared with other Asian countries.<\/p>\n
The government then issued blueprints, which arrange the
\nprovision of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to encourage
\nbusinesses in the three sectors and outline policies to improve
\nthe incomes and productivity of farmers.<\/p>\n
At the center of the plan were prioritized measures on several
\ncommodities over the short- and medium-terms, especially rice,
\ncorn, soybeans, sugar and meat, aiming for eventual self-
\nsufficiency in these areas.<\/p>\n
In order to give assurance on the government's seriousness
\nabout the plan, the President even announced at the launching
\nceremony of the revitalization program the provision of several
\nincentives worth some Rp 10 billion (about US$1 million) for
\nfarmers.<\/p>\n
It was a bit ironic, though, that at a time when hopes were
\npinned on the success of the program, the government tried to
\nbacktrack on its own pledge by announcing it would import 250,000
\ntons of rice amid good harvests and slightly favorable prices on
\nthe domestic market.<\/p>\n
Even though the import plan was also annulled (perhaps only a
\ndelay) soon after strong protests from various circles, including
\nthe rectors of domestic universities, such an inconsistency
\nreally hurt the feelings of the farmers, who account for the bulk
\nof the country's population.<\/p>\n
At a time when farmers were experiencing respite after a
\nseries of bad news, ranging from long droughts to falling
\nsubsidies, scarcity of fertilizer, pest outbreaks to harvest
\nfailures, the intention to import rice by the State Logistics
\nAgency (Bulog) aimed at increasing the rice stocks for the poor
\nwas feared to further hurt the farmers' feeling.<\/p>\n
Both the farmers and officials of the Ministry of Agriculture
\nhave incessantly assured that the country achieved a rice
\nproduction surplus this year, so that rice importation was not
\nnecessary, but Bulog said otherwise. It was also important to
\nnote that it was only in June that the government decided to
\nextend its ban on the importation of rice until the end of the
\nyear. It is not clear here who cheats whom.<\/p>\n
The most confusing thing is that Minister of Agriculture Anton
\nApriyantono -- who is responsible for and well aware of the rice
\ncondition in the country -- gave his assurance on many occasions
\nthat stocks of the staple food were adequate, so that there was
\nno need for importation, but the government turned a deaf ear and
\neasily gave the green light to the rice importation plan.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's production of unhusked rice is projected to reach
\n53 million tons this year, so that there will be an estimated
\nproduction surplus of 1.62 million tons of husked rice, according
\nto data at the Ministry of Agriculture.<\/p>\n
The indecisiveness in the import case has sparked allegations
\nthat the government lacks accurate and reliable planning and an
\ninformation system with regard to rural development programs.<\/p>\n
Are the planning system, prediction, information and stock
\nmanagement carried out by the government at present really in
\nsuch a poor state? Why did the government so readily change its
\nstance on the condition of rice production and stocks within such
\na short period of time?<\/p>\n
How can we talk about food security if there is no
\nsynchronization among government institutions in the planning
\nand management of food stocks? Each institution has its own data,
\nwhich can easily be used by certain parties for their own private
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Bulog, which frequently insists on the
\nimportance of rice imports, reportedly will easily push aside
\nrequests for the institution to buy rice directly from farmers by
\nmaking various excuses like the warehouses are already full, the
\nquality or rice products do not meet the requirements, or the
\nprices are already higher than the ceiling set by the government.<\/p>\n
Even more bizarre is the inability of the Ministry of
\nAgriculture to argue in front of other institutions, like the
\nMinistry of Trade, Ministry of Finance and even Bulog. In many
\ninstances with regard to agricultural policies, ranging from the
\nprovision of subsidies, application of value-added taxes to
\nimport tariffs, the Ministry of Agriculture is in the position of
\nthe loser. The latest instance was when the Minister of
\nAgriculture bowed to pressure and said that he understood the
\ngovernment's decision to import rice even though, according to
\nhim, stocks on the domestic market were adequate.<\/p>\n
The government is good at conceptualizing, but is in poor
\nform when it comes to implementation. All the concepts are still
\nat the discourse level as at the grass-roots level there is a
\nperception about the absence of unity and a \"single say\" among
\nCabinet members on the rural development programs.<\/p>\n
Such problems continuously accompany the agricultural
\ndevelopment world in the country. It is not a strange thing as
\nwell that since the establishment of this country up to the
\npresent, problems of food and rice have been widely discussed and
\nbroadly covered by the mass media.<\/p>\n
But in line with the age of the nation, the fate of the
\nfarmers has never become a real issue in their own country.<\/p>\n
The writer is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/agricultural-development-remains-on-the-periphery-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }