Expert welcomes government's agriculture policy change<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Agricultural expert H.S. Dillon welcomed
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid's decision to put forestry,
\nplantations and agriculture under one ministry, saying the merger
\nwould improve the management of Indonesia's agricultural and
\nforest resources.<\/p>\n
\"Until now the government's policies have been segregated,
\nwhich (in the end) sacrificed our natural resources,\" he said
\nduring a break in a seminar on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Dillon, the executive director of the Center for Agricultural
\nPolicy Studies, said the new minister of agriculture and forestry
\nwould have to create an integrated policy that could both exploit
\nand protect Indonesia's forests.<\/p>\n
In conserving forests, it is important the people can also
\nbenefit from the conservation process, he said. \"We cannot expect
\npeople to join a conservation program if they get nothing out of
\nit,\" said Dillon, who was a member of the now defunct National
\nEconomic Council.<\/p>\n
On the flip side, the exploitation of forest areas should be
\nmanaged in such a way that the resources are renewable rather
\nthan simply being laid to waste, he said.<\/p>\n
\"If forestry, plantations and agriculture weren't merged, (the
\nexploitation of natural resources) could not be controlled
\nproperly,\" Dillon said, adding that the devastation of forests in
\nJava was the result of years of segregated policies.<\/p>\n
During the Soeharto era, forestry and agriculture were under
\ntwo separate ministries, with farming, plantations and fisheries
\nunder the Ministry of Agriculture.<\/p>\n
Former president B.J. Habibie put plantations under the
\nsupervision of the Ministry of Forestry. In the Cabinet announced
\nlast week, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of
\nForestry and Plantations were merged into one ministry, with
\nBungaran Saragih, an agriculture expert, being named its
\nminister.<\/p>\n
Dillon said the first thing Bungaran should concentrate on was
\nhaving his directors become the partners of farmers rather than
\nacting as their masters.<\/p>\n
\"If Bungaran can manage that, they (the directors) will be the
\nones fighting for the fate of the farmers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The appointment of Bungaran, a professor of agribusiness,
\nreflects the President's desire to advance the agroindustry
\nsector, Dillon said.<\/p>\n
He said Abdurrahman's orientation was toward the export market
\nand raising foreign exchange to pay the country's debts, not
\nempowering farmers.<\/p>\n
\"The global market can only be mastered by increasing
\ncompetitiveness, especially of the small farmers,\" Dillon said.
\n(10)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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