Protectionist rice policy criticized<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Government moves to protect local rice farmers against cheaper
\nimported rice products would only increase the burden on small
\nfarmers and the poor, agricultural experts said last week.<\/p>\n
The addition of tariffs would increase the price of rice in
\nthe local market, which in turn would put more financial pressure
\non farmers, many of whom were net rice consumers, said Erwidodo,
\na senior researcher at the rural ministry's Center for
\nAgricultural Socioeconomic Research (CASER).<\/p>\n
Speaking at a seminar sponsored by the United Nations Support
\nFacility for Indonesian Recovery (UNSFIR), Erwidodo said
\ngovernment policies should aim at boosting the productivity and
\nefficiency of the agriculture sector in order to help farmers
\ncompete with cheaper imported rice products.<\/p>\n
\"The problem of the local rice farmers is that they do not
\nhave access to the latest technology available, which they need
\nto raise their productivity (to compete),\" Erwidodo said.<\/p>\n
\"Another problem is that many farmers only have very small
\nplots of land.\"<\/p>\n
A recent study showed rice farmers who owned less than 1.5
\nhectares of farming land, only received 28 percent of their
\nhousehold income from farming the crop.<\/p>\n
\"Production efficiency could be enhanced by consolidating and
\nexpanding farm sizes, for example,\" Erwidodo said.<\/p>\n
He suggested minimizing -- if not totally avoiding -- any
\npolicies that resulted in higher rice prices at home.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been criticized for
\nbefore for introducing protectionist measures in its trade
\npolicy. Last year, it introduced a 30 percent tariff on rice
\nimports.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month it introduced a temporary ban on rice
\nimports to protect farmers against imports during the approaching
\nharvest.<\/p>\n
The government was prone to introducing protectionist measures
\nparticularly in the lead-up to the general elections, in a bid to
\nwoo the rural sector, Erwidodo said.<\/p>\n
Bogor Institute of Agricultural Development speaker Bayu
\nKrishnamurthi said many small rice farmers faced problems of
\neconomies of scale.<\/p>\n
\"It is not protectionism that our rice farmers need. The main
\nproblem among our rice farmers is poverty,\" he said, pointing out
\nthat most farmers only had small parcels of land, which made
\ntheir farming inefficient.<\/p>\n
World Bank senior economist Neil McCulloch said based on the
\n2001 National Economic Survey (Susenas), increasing the price of
\nrice would only help a few producers.<\/p>\n
\"In rural areas, 60.6 percent are non-rice producers while
\n10.3 percent are rice producers who are also rice consumers. The
\nhigh prices of rice are experienced as well by those rice
\nfarmers, so it is not helping their living,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Proportion of Net Producer Household<\/p>\n
Non- Rice producers Rice producers Total<\/p>\n
Producers who are net who are net<\/p>\n
consumers producers
\n---------------------------------------------------------------------
\nNational 38,330,480 3,364,224 9,659,561 51,353,820<\/p>\n
(74.6%) (6.6%) (18.8%) (100%)<\/p>\n
Urban 20,762,432 383,026 1,208,744 22,354,202<\/p>\n
(92.9%) (1.7%) (5.4%) (100%)<\/p>\n
Rural 17,568,048 2,980,753 8,450,817 28,999,618<\/p>\n
(60.6%) (10.3%) (29.1%) (100%)
\n---------------------------------------------------------------------
\nSource: \"Trade and Poverty in Indonesia: What are the Links\",
\nNeil McCulloch, The World Bank, 2004, paper presented at the
\nworkshop on Trade and Industry, organized by UNSFIR.<\/p>",
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