Fertilizers, pesticides affect agribusiness

Fertilizers, pesticides affect agribusiness

Kosasih Derajat, The Jakarta Post, Brebes, Central Java

Cooking without shallots will mean that food tastes different,
although peeling them brings tears to one's eyes due to the
sulfur-rich volatile oil they contain.

The bulb-shaped shallot (Allium cepa) can make its growers
smile and rich instantly when the yield is good and the price is
high. But bad weather -- too much rain or lack of sunshine, as
well as attacks by pests, will make growers cry since the
problems degrade both the yield's quality and quantity.

Brebes, a regency located along the north coast in westernmost
Central Java, some 330 km east of Jakarta, is a major producer of
shallots.

In the city, local people earn their living by planting and
selling shallots. The average production is 10 tons annually, but
when the yield is better in terms of quality and price, more
local people rush to plant them.

In September 1998, for instance, the shallot price reached Rp
12,000 per kilogram, the highest experienced. After that, more
people planted shallots than ever before. As a result, there was
a boom in production.

In December 1999, the price dropped to only Rp 4,000 per kilo
due to an oversupply and poor quality. At that time, harvesting
was tragic because many farmers suffered losses. Production costs
for each hectare of farming land were about Rp 10 million, while
the yield of 10 tons per hectare earned them only Rp 4 million.
Some 60 percent of the costs were accounted for by fertilizer and
pesticide.

For decades, Brebes has been responsible for around 40 percent
of the national shallot supply. About half of its production is
bought by leading noodle and food manufacturer PT Indofood Sukses
Makmur.

However, farmers in this regency currently worry about a
gradual decrease in all agricultural production, which also
includes red chili, garlic and rice as well as shrimp and fish
farming.

The problem is that the soil has become hard and its fertility
is decreasing.

Three Taiwanese agribusiness experts recently visiting a farm
in Brebes blamed chemical substances as the cause of the problem.
"The excessive use of chemical fertilizers must have caused such
damage to the soil," Lai Wen-Hsiung, chief executive officer of
Taichung-based Nibiotac Technology Co. Ltd., said.

The company's marketing manager, David Peng, added that the
farmers had also used excessive amounts of chemical pesticide,
which was hazardous to consumers' health.

The regent, Tadjudin Nuraly, invited the Taiwanese experts to
demonstrate the relevant up-to-date foreign technology that could
be utilized to further develop agribusiness in the area. The
regent is strongly committed to exporting agribusiness
commodities from his villages to improve his people's financial
situation, which in turn can increase the tax yield and earn more
revenue for the administration.

However, as the Taiwanese experts said, exports of agro-
industry commodities would be rejected by foreign countries if
they contained chemical elements that came from fertilizers or
pesticides.

The problem is, is it possible to use no fertilizer or
pesticide at all?

"Change the tradition now, stop using chemical substances,"
Lai offered as the solution.