Future market for pesticide remains bright

Future market for pesticide remains bright

JAKARTA (JP): Pesticide manufacturers remain optimistic about
the future market for their products, despite the government's
drive to implement an integrated pest management (IPM) program as
Indonesia's major crop-protection policy.

"IPM is an environment-oriented system which is basically
aimed at increasing the income of farmers. It is not synonymous
with a ban on pesticides," said Mangara Sitanggang, the chairman
of the Association of Indonesian Pesticide Manufacturers.

Speaking at a workshop of the Brussels-based Groupement
International des Association Nationales de Fabricants de
Produits Agrochemiques (GIFAP), Sitanggang said there was no
direct correlation between IPM and the quantity of pesticides
used in farming.

"In implementing IPM, the use of pesticides can be either
increased or decreased, depending on the farmer's decisions and
needs," he said.

The IPM program, applied by the Ministry of Agriculture in
Indonesia since 1979, requires farmers to play a central role in
the development and implementation of pest-control techniques and
allows the government to control the use of pesticides in
farming.

At the same time, however, the government has also encouraged
the development of the pesticide industry to ensure a constant
supply of major pesticides.

Through training programs, farmers are expected to become
responsible for cultivation activities and to be capable of
overcoming pest problems in the safest and most effective and
efficient ways.

According to Sudarwohadi Sastrosiswojo of the Ministry of
Agriculture, the IPM program is based on principles which include
the growing of a healthy crop; the use and conservation of
natural enemies; the conducting of routine field observations;
and the education of farmers as IPM experts.

Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah, in a speech
delivered by the director of the ministry's Agency for Mass
Guidance Supervision (Bimas), Syamsuddin Abbas, said that,
despite the implementation of IPM, up to 50 percent of the
chemicals used on rice, vegetable and plantation crops are still
made up of formulations restricted by government regulations.

"This means we are still running high risks, despite our
concerted efforts... Untrained and unprotected farmers are
applying excessive amounts of dangerous chemicals to their crops,
resulting in decreased profits, risks of outbreaks of crop
disease, pest resistance and negative effects on human health and
the environment," Sjarifudin said.

He said that more efforts should be made to apply new
generations of safe, specific pesticides.

"We regret that many producers are yet to abide by the
labeling and packaging standards formally established," he said.

Zainal Arifin of the Ministry of Industry said that,
currently, more than 500 pesticide products are registered in
Indonesia, with a total production of approximately 180,000 tons
a year.

According to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the reduced use of pesticides under IPM has
boosted the country's rice yields.

IPM has also helped to save up to US$120 million in government
subsidies to farmers, while pesticide-induced outbreaks of crop
disease, have ceased, says the FAO.

"The production factors in farming are strictly soil, water
and fertilizers. Pesticides are not a production factor and
should not be seen as an instrument for increasing rice yields,"
said Nugroho Wienarto, a management specialist with the FAO's IPM
program for Indonesia.

He called on pesticide manufacturers to be more responsible in
producing their chemicals.

"(Manufacturers) take the view that, if farmers get a rash or
are injured by pesticides, it is the government's responsibility.
They don't care about the safety of their chemicals," he said.

GIFAP Director General K.P. Vlahodimos, said that pesticide
manufacturers grouped in the organization were in full support of
IPM.

"We are signatories to the FAO's code of ethics on IPM and we
will abide by those rules... But when you need to produce food,
you need to have knowledgeable farmers who know how to make the
right decisions, including in the proper use of crop-protection
products," he said. (pwn)