Buying Rice is Out of Their Reach
Efredi, 53, a rubber tree tapper in Entikong, Sanggau regency, West Kalimantan, cleans a rubber tree where he works, Thursday (17/8). The price of rubber has affected the pockets of tappers like Efredi.
Efredi, 53, and his wife Delila, 43, sat quietlyina 3-meter by 2-meter hut in Entikong district, Sanggau regency, West Kalimantan. Within the atmosphere of commemorating the 72nd anniversary of Indonesian independence, the couple was shrouded in sadness.
The hut does not belong to them; it belongs to the owner of the rubber plantation where they work. Its walls are unpainted wood. The small space has no furniture, and even the floor mat is in tatters. Along a length of rope on one wall hang several pieces of worn-out clothing. There is no electricity.
Efredi and Delila started working one month ago at the rubber plantation owned by a native Entikong resident. The couple is originally from Jangkang district, 100 kilometers from Entikong. “We have a rubber plantation in Jangkang, but it is less than one hectare. With the fall in rubber prices, we only make Rp 250,000 [US$18.74] per month. Meanwhile, our three children at junior high school, vocational high school and university need at least Rp 1 million per month. The price for one kilogram of rubber is not even enough to buy one kilogram of rice,” said Efredi.
Over the last four years, the price of rubber has plummeted from Rp 10,000 per kilogram to Rp 5,000 per kilogram. This is lower than the price of rice per kilogram.
In order to meet their daily needs and pay for their children’s education, Efredi often borrowed money. The family’s finances grew even worse when the couple tried their luck as rubber tappers in Entikong. Their earnings did not improve, and they could only make between Rp 500,000 and Rp 700,000 a month. This was not enough to pay their arrears, the children’s school fees and daily needs.
“My child in vocational high school wore a junior high school uniform throughout the first semester, as we could not buy a vocational high school uniform,” he said.
Rubber farmer Matius, 35, in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan, faces similar difficulties. His child, currently a junior high school student, cannot get his report card because Matius can not finish paying the full tuition. “When the price of rubber was between Rp 10,000 and Rp 15,000 per kg, farmers made millions of rupiah a month. We could afford our children’s school fees. Now it is nothing but a memory,” said Matius.
A similar fate has befallen many other rubber farmers. Data from the 2015-2017 Rubber Census shows that West Kalimantan has 264,328 rubber farming families.
In Henda village, Pulang Pisau regency, Central Kalimantan, Wahyudi, 47, walked slowly to a rubber plantation on Saturday (12/8/2017). The falling price of rubber has taken away all his enthusiasm in farming rubber. But he has no other options.
After tapping 30 rubber trees, Wahyu dirushed to a neighboring village on a motorbike. There, he cleaned another man’s plantation for a wage of Rp 40,000 for half a day’s work. “If I don’t take side jobs, I cannot buy rice,” he said.
Wahyudi said he built his type 45 permanent house nine years ago, when the price of rubber was Rp 12,000 per kilogram. Today, his hope of enjoying the golden days of rubber is fading by the day.
Tumbit M Sipet, 45, of Gohong village in Pulang Pisau regency, shared a similar story. He now works as a daily wage worker, taking care a dragon fruit farm owned by an agribusiness company. He got frustrated with managing and tapping rubber on his own 2-hectare plantation because of the continuously falling rubber price.
Problematic
The head of the West Kalimantan branch of the Indonesian Rubber Association (Gapkindo), Jusdar Sutan, said that the global price for rubber was very low. In February, the rubber price was US$2.3 per kilogram. However, the price fell to US$1.5 per kilogram in August. The International Tripartite Rubber Council’s decision to reduce rubber exports last year between March 1 and August 31 did not help recover the price of rubber.
Another problem is the poor rubber productivity in West Kalimantan. Each hectare of plantation only produces between 600 kg and 700 kg of rubber a year without rejuvenation. Once rejuvenated, 1 hectare can produce 1.8 tons per year. With proper maintenance, 1 hectare can produce 2.5 tons per year.
The poor productivity has resulted in a lack of raw materials for factories. Two of the 16 rubber factories in West Kalimantan were shut down, and about 500 factory workers lost their jobs. Another 14 factories are not operating at full capacity. The factories have a maximum production capacity of 500,000 tons per year, but produce just 220,000 tons per year.
West Kalimantan Deputy Governor Christiandy Sanjaya said the government was making efforts to resolve the problem. Apart from issuing a number of regulations, the government is also providing assistance in the form of seeds and farmers training. It has set upa Pre-processed Rubber Marketing Unit in several areas.
Economics professor Eddy Suratman at Pontianak’s Tanjungpura University said the government’s seed assistance for farmers was not combined with program monitoring for effectiveness.
The trading system is not good, either. Speculators often manipulate prices. A government body dedicated to purchasing rubber at good prices when prices are low should be established in regions. A downstream rubber industry is also needed to optimize domestic absorption.
Mixed
Data from Bank Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan branch in 2017 shows that the province has a poor rubber productivity of only 1.04 tons per hectare, below the national average of 1.23 tons per hectare. This is in spite of the fact that rubber is the province’s major commodity.
The Central Kalimantan Plantation Agency’s data shows that 80 percent smallholding plantations in the province are rubber plantations. However, as Gohong village head Yanto L Adam said, the natural rubber latex (getah karet) produced by smallholding plantations were generally of poor quality. “Some farmers mix their rubber with gravel, others soak it in the river to increase weight. This causes reluctance among companies to buy it,” he said.
In Sei Gohong subdistrict in Palangkaraya, the story is different. The 55 members of the Panunjung Tarung farmers group still tap rubber amid the low price.
This is because they have a warehouse with a capacity of 12 tons of natural latexto store pre-processed rubber (bokar). The warehouse is 6 meters x8 meters. Inside, there are tiered bamboo pallets for storing rubber.
Farmers group head Holdi, 50, said the warehouse was built in 2015 with funding assistance from the central bank’s Central Kalimantan branch. The bank also established a cooperative to purchase locally produced rubber. “Farmers used to sell directly to collectors. Now, we can purchase and process the rubber, so the price is higher,” he said.
The cooperative is able to sell natural latex at Rp 12,000 per kilogram. They buy rubber from farmers for Rp 9,500 toRp 10,000 per kilogram.
Bank Indonesia-Central Kalimantan head Wuryanto said that his office worked with three rubber farmers groups to help them achieve independence. “Rubber is highly dependent on the global condition. This is not good. The solution is to provide guidance to farmers to improve the quality of their rubber and to push for the establishment of the downstream rubber industry in Central Kalimantan. At the very least, we must be able to produce intermediate goods,” he said.
