Food security

Food security

I wish to congratulate The Jakarta Post on their well-balanced
and realistic editorial on the subject of securing sufficient
food, especially rice, for the ever-growing population of this
nation.

At the same time, I would like to add some other thoughts and
remarks to this. It is right that Indonesia achieved self-
sufficiency in rice in 1984, and was able to maintain it for some
years as well. Due to the adverse climatic conditions on the one
hand, but also due to the conversion of agricultural land into
housing and industrial land, this self-sufficiency was lost again
a few years ago. Indonesia became the second biggest importer of
rice after China, although this also includes political
importations.

For that reason, it is quite plausible that new areas, like
the swamp land in Kalimantan, will be converted into rice
plantations. However, again, things are not as positive as they
might appear. First of all, from an environmental point of view,
the conversion idea is still being debated, by government circles
in particular. Secondly, it has yet to be proven that this
conversion, given that a certain type of land is required for
peat land, will really be a success. Many experts argue that the
land's humus will float on the water and be washed away in two
years at the latest, leaving only barren land.

The decision of the Ministry of Agriculture to gradually phase
out of the market 57 of the most important and internationally
used and registered crop protection products, which make up 40
percent of the Indonesian insecticide market (although they were
not meant for use in rice farming) might add to the self-
sufficiency problems that already exist, i.e. for vegetables and
fruits, which also are an important part of the national diet.

A side effect of that decision will also be the probable price
increase for the remaining products on the market, which the
farmer and, subsequently, the consumer -- the people of Indonesia
-- have to bear.

ROLAND WOEHRLE

Jakarta