DARE TO TURN AROUND 2013 UMALI AWARD ACCEPTANCE SPEECH Prof.Dr.Sjarifudin Baharsjah

THE RICE SELF SUFFICIENCY ACHIEVED BY INDONESIA IN 1984 The achievement was reached under the leadership of a dedicated Government at all levels, supported by the active participation of motivated farmers The instrument was the Green Revolution Technology initiated by the Noble laureate Norman Borlaug and translated in practical terms for Indonesia by A.T. Mosher The main land resource was the irrigated sawah on Java which produces 60% of the national rice production

RICE SELF SUFFICIENCY TO SUPPORT EXPORT DRIVEN GROWTH  To accelerate growth, Govt. assumed a policy of export driven growth  Agriculture contributed to create the low cost condition accelerate growth the country as by maintaining rice self sufficiency for competitiveness in the world market  The green revolution technology model remained the main instrument

CHALLENGES FACED BY MAINTAINING POLICY OF RICE/FOOD SELF SUFFICIENCY  The acreage of irrigated sawah on Java of 3.3 million Hectares continues to shrink at the alarming rate of Hectares per year  The country’s large population of 238 million people in 2010 continues to grow at 1.5 % per annum and consumption of rice per capita per year remains high (139 kg)  Opening new sawah in other islands faces serious constrains

IMPORTS OF FOOD TO MEET DOMESTIC DEMAND Import of food stuff during last decade

INSPITE OF THE CHALLENGES  Government still insists to continues its policy of maintaining self sufficiency, even broadening the targets to include rice, corn, sugar, soy bean and meat.  The main instrument remains the Green Revolution Technology  The main land resource remains the irrigated sawah land on Java island

CONCEQUENCES OF CONTINUING FAILED POLICY OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY  An increasingly dominant role of government, and an increasingly passive farmer population  Aggrevated with the opening of the domestic market, an involution of the rural agricultural economy where poverty increases, jobs become scarce and land grabbing by rich farmers and large firms occur  Urbanization of 5.04 million landless and peasant farmers to informal sectors in towns

INVOLUTION OF THE RURAL AGRICULTURE ECONOMY Value of per capita productivity of labor in agriculture and in other fields

POTENTIAL THREAT TO NATIONAL ECONOMY As most of the country’s population lives in the rural areas, it becomes very important that the grave rural agrulture economic involution is properly addressed. Otherwise it may become an ever enlarging balloon of poverty which endangers the whole economy leading to a national catastrophe

THE NEED FOR A NEW AGRICULTURE POLICY  A new agriculture policy is needed to replace the current one which has become obsolete.  The new agriculture police should be based on actual availability of resources, enables best possible agricultural practices by farmers  It should lead agriculture development toward long term goals, i.e. able to produce enough food, raise farmers welfare and contribute to national development.

 Application of Blue Economy enables the exploitation of upland and swampyland, and sawah land for agriculture  Many principles of Blue Economy as applied to agriculture have been practiced by farmers, and are rooted in their tradition including the zero waste principle  Uphold the principles of sound ecology NEW AGRICULTURE POLICY, APPLYING PRINCIPLES OF BLUE ECONOMY

A NEED TO TURN AROUND  For the transformation to proceed succesfully all parties involved shall change its approach to agriculture development.  These include: policy makers, government, scientists, researchers, extension workers, the business community  Farmers are the only group ready to make the change

TURN AROUND 1 : FROM ONLY SAWAH TO UPLAND, SWAMPY LAND AND SAWAH It is important to enlarge the major land resources for rice and food production to include upland and swampy land in addition to sawah to meet future domestic needs It is important to stop the decreasing trend of the acreage of sawah in Java which is our cultural heritage, and which still contributes significantly to national rice production It is important to continue generate technology to increase yields on sawah, upland and swampy land

TURN AROUND 2 FROM GREEN REVOLUTION TECHNOLOGY TO BLUE ECONOMY  Based on a regional approach with farmers as main operators, encouraged to work together in farmers cooperatives  Practicing multi crops farming, to produce mostly processed products, capable to join partnership with larger firms for further processing and marketing the products  Apply the Zero-Waste principle

TURN AROUND 3 : REORIENTATION OF AGRICULTURE RESEARCH  Refocus agriculture research from a single crop focus to multicrops farming on sawah, upland and swampyland  Establish an Upland/ Swampyland Research Center to generate technical and socio-economic know how to assist farmers working in upland and swampyland multiple cropping systems increase productivity and welfare

TURN AROUND 4 : REORIENTATION OF AGRICULTURE EXTENTION  Extension workers are required to reassume the twin roles, to be transmitters of technology cum motivators to farmers  Encourage Field Schools run by farmers assisted by senior extension officers  Encourage farmers to make use of on-line dissemination of market information

TURN AROUND 5 : REORIENTATION OF THE GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Managing agriculture development with the single crop approach inherent to the Green Revolution Technology is not sufficiently capable of managing agriculture development based on a regional approach with multicrops farming system as required by the Blue Economy model

TURN AROUND 6 : REVERSE THE ROLES OF GOVERNMENT AND OF FARMERS  Reverse the trend of increasingly dominant role of government, limit its role to regulating and facilitating the agriculture development process  Restore the active and participative role of farmers, and empower their local wisdom and social capital.  Encourage farmers assotiations, cooperatives and farmers owned firms

TURN AROUND 7 : REALOCATE THE DEVELOPMENT BUDGET The allocation and composition of the Development Budget should reflect programs in line with the execution of agriculture development based on Blue Economy instead of that based on the Green Revolution Technology

DARE TO TURN AROUND AND ACCEPT THE INVITATION TO TURN TO FARMERS AS CHANGE AGENTS TO ACHIEVE AGRICULTURE SUCCESS