Farming strategy needs changing

This is the second of two articles on upland farming.

By Rusdian Lubis

JAKARTA (JP): Is it necessary to formalize common property rights? Up to the present day there are conflicting opinions on the effort to legalize land rights. The formalization of farmers' land rights is expected to give them a sense of security and a sense of sharing, and will encourage them to participate in conserving natural resources. Other opinions state that such legalization of property will cause shifts in rights through market mechanisms, as farmers will have the opportunity to sell their land to external parties.

The controversy aside, we need to explore the development of natural resources, land and water management based on participation by the local community as an alternative to control by the state and private sectors. Communal property rights in other countries have led to higher effectiveness in natural resources management than the private sector. In his observation in West Pasaman, Hayami, along with other researchers such as Bromley and Vondal, claim that regulations based on a local community and its customs can be flexible and can be modified so that they can give incentives for local economic development.

The most suitable areas to implement the strategy seem to be the nuclear estate and small-holder schemes (PIR) and transmigration areas (Trans), or the combination of both (PIR- Trans). So far, the failure of PIR-Trans is caused, among other things, by the issuance of a policy package that resembles the technology-credit package for rice fields or large farms. Not only is such a policy package incompatible with the diversity of the traditional farmers' planting patterns, but it also creates further burdens to those with a limited capital and collateral. The pattern of forest farms which constitute a mixture of forest plants and farming, has potential for development.

We need to understand that PIR produces a large portion of farming products, especially natural rubber. Ecologically, the forest-farm pattern also guarantees bio-diversity that is far more superior than the monocultural system of farms or industrially planted forests.

One of the requirements of the development of upland agriculture is the need to develop a marketing system. The marketing pattern for yields from critical agricultural lands, at the present time, is based more on the supply side. An inadequate marketing system for products consumed locally does not really pose a problem. But on the larger scale the farmers need the help of active middlemen and more accurate market information, particularly concerning products meant for export -- such as cocoa, rubber, and coffee -- for which the international demand fluctuates.

The role played by various farm produce marketing associa tions, such as the coffee association and the rubber association, is highly crucial in identifying market demands, product transportation and other marketing efforts so that market orientation shifts from the supply side to the demand side.

In this regard, the government should keep up and supply market information to the farmers, so that no asymmetry or manipulation of market information will result which may handicap producers. This is even more crucial when it comes to perishable products and products for which the markets are monopolized or oligopolistic. Deliberate information gaps created by the private sector will handicap the farmers.

The time has come for us to tackle the problem of upland agriculture in a more serious and integrated way, involving various sectors such as agriculture, forestry, transmigration, farmers and the environment.

So far, upland areas and their nomadic farmers seem to be neglected. Policy reorientation has become urgent, unless we wish to watch the annual show of effrontery by these farmers as they set the forests on fire during the dry season or send down floods during the rainy season.

The writer is an observer of agriculture and environmental issues now working at the Environmental Impact Management Agency (BAPEDAL).