Farmers (from left) Imam Sadimun, 65, Sukiat, 75, Muhsamun, 74, rest next to a rice field in Sidomulyo village, Wonosari district, Madiun regency, Friday (1/9). The absence of youths that are interested in farming due to the job’s difficulties and poor income has caused an ageing population of farmers in the area.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Since food crop production is unattractive, there is a lack of young farmers, putting in jeopardy national food security. Food demand at home will keep increasing along with the population, which is expected to reach 305 million by 2035.
Structural problems, from upstream to downstream, as mentioned by several farmers in Kompas on Monday (4/9), make food crop production unprofitable, which is why the young generation has little interest in the sector.
Ade Apriyanto, 19, a resident from Banjarmanis village, Gisting district, Tanggamus regency, Lampung, on Monday said he was reluctant to become a farmer, because farming was not promising. Aside from uncertain income, farmers have to bear the risk of pest attack.
“The fate of farmers is uncertain, and there is no guarantee that they will earn a profit. Pest attack is increasing and the selling price is volatile,” Ade said.
Sarjo, 70, a farmer from Tanjang village, Gabus district, Pati regency, Central Java, suggested to his only son to work in any sector but farming. That is because farmers did not live prosperous lives in the past 20 years. “The wage of Rp 1 million to Rp 2 million per month as a factory worker is better than the earning of a farmer,” Sarjo said.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2014 carried out a Food Plantation Cultivation Survey. The survey includes a snapshot of the ages of farmers, sorted into categories of under 35 years old, 35-39 years old, 40-44 years old, 45-49 years old and above 50 years.
Among rice farmers in the 2008-2014 period, the biggest decline seen was in the youngest age group, whose share dropped by two thirds from 25.93 percent to 8.14 percent.
A decline was also seen in the age group of 35-39 years. Meanwhile, the group of 50 years and above saw its share increase from 20.19 percent to 52.07 percent. A similar pattern was observed among corn and soybean farmers.
BPS food plantation statistics sub-directorate head Kadarmanto said the decline in the number of rice farmers in the period of2008-2014 was mainly due to the young farmers. This threatened food security.
“The decline in the number of young farmers was very drastic. That means regeneration has halted. This is a serious problem in the agricultural sector. My father is a farmer, but none of his five children become a farmer,” Kadarmanto said.
While regeneration is slowing since the last decade, domestic food demand continues to rise along with the growing population. Today, Indonesia’s population is around 255 million. BPS projects that by 2035, 18 years from now, there will be another 50 million people adding to a population of then around 305 million.
In the 2016 Global Food Security Index, issued by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Indonesia ranked 71 out of 113 countries with a score of 50.6. The maximum score was 100. Indonesia trailed behind Vietnam (57), Thailand (51), China (42), Brazil (41) and Malaysia (31).
Protection
Bogor Institute of Agriculture professor Dwi Andreas Santosa said the agricultural sector was not getting proper protection from the government. As a result, that strategic sector was not promising and not profitable.
As long as the agricultural sector was not profitable, Andreas said, young people in the village would not be interested in it. Such a situation threatens the future of agriculture, and food security with it.
“In line with development, there is no problem with a decline in the number of farmers. The most important thing is that, even though the number declines, young farmers should be more dominant. The problem is that it’s the number of young farmers that is declining,” said Andreas, who is also the chairman of the Seeds Bank Association and Indonesia Farmers Technology.
