Expert welcomes government's agriculture policy change

JAKARTA (JP): Agricultural expert H.S. Dillon welcomed President Abdurrahman Wahid's decision to put forestry, plantations and agriculture under one ministry, saying the merger would improve the management of Indonesia's agricultural and forest resources.

"Until now the government's policies have been segregated, which (in the end) sacrificed our natural resources," he said during a break in a seminar on Saturday.

Dillon, the executive director of the Center for Agricultural Policy Studies, said the new minister of agriculture and forestry would have to create an integrated policy that could both exploit and protect Indonesia's forests.

In conserving forests, it is important the people can also benefit from the conservation process, he said. "We cannot expect people to join a conservation program if they get nothing out of it," said Dillon, who was a member of the now defunct National Economic Council.

On the flip side, the exploitation of forest areas should be managed in such a way that the resources are renewable rather than simply being laid to waste, he said.

"If forestry, plantations and agriculture weren't merged, (the exploitation of natural resources) could not be controlled properly," Dillon said, adding that the devastation of forests in Java was the result of years of segregated policies.

During the Soeharto era, forestry and agriculture were under two separate ministries, with farming, plantations and fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Former president B.J. Habibie put plantations under the supervision of the Ministry of Forestry. In the Cabinet announced last week, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations were merged into one ministry, with Bungaran Saragih, an agriculture expert, being named its minister.

Dillon said the first thing Bungaran should concentrate on was having his directors become the partners of farmers rather than acting as their masters.

"If Bungaran can manage that, they (the directors) will be the ones fighting for the fate of the farmers," he said.

The appointment of Bungaran, a professor of agribusiness, reflects the President's desire to advance the agroindustry sector, Dillon said.

He said Abdurrahman's orientation was toward the export market and raising foreign exchange to pay the country's debts, not empowering farmers.

"The global market can only be mastered by increasing competitiveness, especially of the small farmers," Dillon said. (10)