Estate project teaches farmers to adapt to new methods

Estate project teaches farmers to adapt to new methods

In an effort to restore its self-sufficiency in rice, the government has embarked on a project to converse the massive peat land in Kalimantan into rice fields and tree crops. A private company, PT Zeneca Agri Products Indonesia, recently invited a number of journalists, including Prapti Widinugraheni of The Jakarta Post, to Kapuas regency in Central Kalimantan to see the project first hand. Followings are three related articles on the subject.

KAPUAS, Central Kalimantan (JP): The government's ambitious Rp 500 billion (US$217.39 million) million-hectare rice estate project has begun and local farmers are now learning to do their job in a different, supposedly more effective, way.

Located in a vast area of peat soil heavily influenced by tidal currents, the project requires farmers to adapt to and live by new farming methods.

Earlier this month, farmers in Mampai village of the Kapuas regency harvested for the first time the rice they planted using new farming techniques on a 1,000-hectare experimental, or "pre- miniature", plot.

The plot was special. It saw the use of the most advanced technology available in swamp engineering to convert at least 700,000 of the one million hectares of peat land into rice estates.

Firstly, the plot was grown with high-quality rice strains genetically engineered for swamp and tidal-affected areas, such as the IR 66, Membramo, Musi and Cisanggarung rice varieties.

Secondly, cultivation -- with the application of the unpopular tablet-form urea fertilizer -- was carried out with the help of herbicide chemicals such as Para Col and Gramoxone, in combination with a "zero-tilling" method.

Thirdly, irrigation was developed through a specially-designed micro-irrigation technique.

To farmers' -- and the government's -- relief, the efforts produced favorable results. This was particularly pleasing because the thousand-hectare plot was actually flooded last month after heavy rains hit the region, causing a number of agricultural analysts to voice renewed skepticism over the project.

Ridwansyah, a farmer in Mampai, said he was able to harvest up to 3.7 tons of unhusked rice per hectare from his land in the pre-miniature plot. "This is much more than the expected harvest of two tons a hectare," he said.

He said the new method not only helped produce higher yields, but was also more time-saving and cost-efficient.

Fauzi Mahfoed of the local agricultural office's Plant Protection Division explained that in traditional farming, five months -- from November to March -- are needed to raise the rice seedlings. After planting the seedlings in April, the rice is harvested between July and August.

To clear and prepare the land for the next planting season, traditional farmers use curved knives about 40 cm long, locally called tajak. And when planting the seedlings, sharp wooden sticks about 30 cm long, called tatuja, are used to make notches in the soil.

Using local rice varieties and traditional farming methods, Fauzi said, farmers can only harvest once a year.

Ridwansyah said he needs up to 55 days after every harvest to prepare the rice fields for the next planting season.

In contrast, the new technique uses high-quality seeds which produce harvests twice a year, and, according to Ridwansyah, requires only 15 days for land preparation as well as saving up to Rp 175,000 (US$76) in costs.

Kapuas regent Odji Durachman said it would be difficult to rely on traditional farming methods for the cultivation of the one million-hectare rice estates.

Using the traditional tajak, he said, three workers are needed to prepare every hectare of rice field, but in the zero-tilling method -- where farmers kill the weeds by spraying them with herbicides -- only one person is needed for every four hectares.

"We also have records showing that every month at least 20 people get hurt using the tajak," Odji said.

In spite of these favorable results, the government is aware of the high risks involved in this ambitious project.

The Indonesia Peat Society earlier this year pointed out that peat soil has poor fertility, is high in acidity, lacks mineral content, has a thin layer of useful soil and is prone to flooding or over-draining.

In other words, serious effort is needed to make one million hectares of peat land fit for rice and tree-crop estates.

And once peat soil is opened, or prepared for cultivation, there is no going back. Leaving it exposed for too long may cause it to drain and degrade, making it no longer arable.

But the government has set itself the target of making this project a success, saying it is absolutely necessary to restore and secure Indonesia's self-sufficiency in rice -- achieved in 1984 but lost again in 1993.

The thousand-hectare, pre-miniature plot is the start of the million-hectare program. A second stage, a 10,000 "miniature plot" was recently opened.

The miniature plot uses both the techniques applied in the pre-miniature plot and high-quality local rice varieties.

"If this plot is successful, then the whole million-hectare project will probably be successful as well," Odji said.

But he pointed out that the sheer scale of the project makes it necessary to bring in workers and farmers from outside the region.

These workers, according to the government's plans, will be brought in as transmigrants from the more densely populated island of Java.

Odji said the Kapuas regency, where 85 percent of the million- hectare project is located, will need an additional 200,000 workers to join the currently 467,000-strong population to help with the immense job of cultivating the rice fields.

To attract the transmigrants, the government has promised each family four hectares of land which they can cultivate and live from.

The government also plans to build basic infrastructure, education and health facilities and create new centers of economic activities such as markets and government offices.

"But we hope that intensive training and other forms of assistance will help local farmers to become active participants, and not only observers," Odji said.

Aisyah, a farmer from Mampai, said she has nothing against the transmigrants who will soon be "invading" the region, and is convinced there is a lot the newcomers can teach the local farmers.

"I don't mind because I am sure we can learn a lot from them, especially on how to carry out the new farming methods," said the 60-year-old mother of five who helps her husband in the rice fields everyday.

But will the transmigrants be prepared to face such a responsibility?

The Indonesian Peat Society emphasized earlier this year the importance of equipping transmigrants with adequate knowledge on the unique conditions of the peat soil as well as the new farming techniques.

"The transmigrants must be made fully aware that the soil is different from what they are used to at home in Java, so they should treat it differently. Otherwise, the whole project would have been a blunder," said the society's chairman, Bambang Setiadi.