Agricultural extension service needs improvement: Minister
Agricultural extension service needs improvement: Minister
JAKARTA (JP): Agricultural extension service, which is
presently conducted autonomously by local administrations, has
yet to produce the desired results, Minister of Agriculture
Sjarifudin Baharsjah said yesterday.
Sjarifudin said second-level (mayoralty and regency level)
administrations across the country have different capabilities
and therefore have had different levels of success.
"This, and the fact that field extension workers have
different personal attitudes, have caused farmers to give
different responses to the supervision program," Sjarifudin said.
The government stipulated in 1991 that agricultural extension
service be overseen by mayoralty and regency administrations, not
the Ministry of Agriculture in Jakarta, and managed by the local
agricultural offices for food crop and horticulture, animal
husbandry, plantations and fishery.
"However, the different levels of competency of each of these
autonomous offices, as well as their human resources, have
weakened the program," Sjarifudin said.
He said the government has earmarked Rp 55 billion (US$23.91
million) this fiscal year in operational funds for the
agricultural extension service.
The funds, he said, were allocated in a Presidential
Instruction on second-level administrations, while the ruling was
stipulated in Joint Decree No. 54/1996, issued by the minister of
home affairs and the minister of agriculture.
Sjarifudin explained that the funds cover stipends and
transportation, stationary and housing expenses.
The ratio of supervisors to farmers is currently 1:15 for
areas in Java but much smaller on other islands, Sjarifudin said.
"It would not be appropriate to set a fixed 'ideal ratio'
because the conditions in each region vary greatly. We have
agreed to settle on a 'most-effective' standard instead," he
said.
He said that ideally, regional autonomy would allow farmers
and local administrations to work together, with his ministry's
office in Jakarta only providing the program guidelines.
"In the end, it is hoped that agricultural extension service
from the ministry's staff will help empower farmers to solve
their problems and disseminate information among themselves,"
Sjarifudin said. (pwn)