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)