Farming: Research Key to Success
The lack of research is one of several factors contributing to the decline in the production of a number of agricultural commodities, which have been the backbone of the county’s economy for years.
BANDAR LAMPUNG, KOMPAS – The lack of research is one of several factors contributing to the decline in the production of a number of agricultural commodities, which have been the backbone of the county’s economy for years.
The involvement of many parties is needed to make the agricultural sector strong again. Indonesia, for example, dominated the world pepper export market until 2013. Ironically, the world pepper market is now dominated by Vietnam, which learned about pepper cultivation from Indonesia in the early 1980s.
"From 80,000 hectares of pepper plantation area, Vietnam can produce 120,000 tons of pepper a year. Indonesia, with a pepper plantation area of 170,000 ha, can produce only 90,000 tons," Nurliani Bermawie, a researcher from the Indonesian Center for Spice and Medicinal Plant Research (Balittro) of the Ministry of Agriculture, said in Jakarta on Friday.
Vietnam\'s pepper productivity averages at 2 tons per hectare. "Meanwhile in Indonesia, it is only about 800 kilograms per hectare," she said. According to Nurliani, the low productivity of pepper in Indonesia is mainly due to improper planting methods and stem borer pests that have not been resolved properly.
Such pest attack mainly occurs in Lampung, once the center of national pepper production. As a result, many pepper farmers in Lampung have shifted to other crops, which caused a decline in pepper plantations. The pepper planting area in Lampung dropped to 10,800 ha in 2016 from 25,600 ha in 2010.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) head of botanical research Enny Sudarmonowati said Indonesia needed a lot of biotechnology research to develop a variety of key agricultural commodities, including pepper. "Research on pepper is still lacking, but we will intensify it again," he said. According to Enny, LIPI is exploring cooperation with the administration of Bangka to develop pepper in the regency. "No plan has so far been made for Lampung. If [local administrations] there were interested in working together, that would be better," said Enny.
Some growth
Economic growth in Lampung was higher than the national average in the last three years. In 2015, when the country’s economic growth reached 4.88 percent, Lampung’s economy grew by 5.13 percent. In 2017, economic growth in Lampung reached 5.17 percent, beating the national average of 5.07 percent. Nevertheless, the production of a number of commodities, which from the late 1990s to 2015 had been the backbone of the small business economy, such as pepper, coffee, cassava and shrimp, has declined.
The production of a number of other commodities, such as sugarcane, palm oil and banana, is increasing, but these are mostly managed by plantation companies. Banana production, for example, rose from 549,928 tons in 2005 to 1,517,004 tons in 2017.
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), coffee plantation areas in Lampung, which had totaled 203,578 ha in 2000, fell to 137,928 ha in 2017. The decline in plantation area resulted in a sharp drop in output, which plunged to 110,368 tons in 2017 from 142,761 tons in 2005.
No research yet
Especially for pepper, no research has so far been conducted to deal with the stem rot disease (Phytophthora Spp). The only things farmers can do is to cut down the affected plants to prevent the spread of the disease, which led to a drop in pepper productivity from one ton to five quintals per ha.
Mujiono, a farmer of Sukoharjo village, the Bengkunat Belimbing district, Pesisir Barat regency, said the price of dried pepper at the farmer level ranged from Rp 38,000 to Rp 40,000 per kilogram, far lower than the Rp 110,000 per kilogram two years ago. Due to the sharp drop in prices, many pepper plantation areas in East Lampung are in a state of neglect.
Many pepper plantations are overgrown with grass; the yellowing of the pepper plants is left unchecked and many black spots are found on the pepper leaf. "The production used to be 1.6 tons per ha. However, during the last four years, production only reached two quintals per ha, because many plants are attacked by the pests," said Mujiono.
Isa Ansori, 39, a cassava farmer in Nabung village, Sukadana district, East Lampung, said farmers made a profit only if the price of cassava exceeded Rp 1,200 per kilogram. Approaching the harvest season, the price of cassava usually drops to Rp 600 per kilogram.
Bukhari, 45, a coffee farmer in Kecamatan Air Naningan, Tanggamus, confirmed a similar drop in coffee yields. "Last year, coffee production fell from 900 kg to 700 kg per hectare because of rain."
The chairman of the Team for the Acceleration of Plantation, Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry (TP4K) in Lampung, Joko Umar Said, said the lack of research and technology had contributed to the fall in key commodities in Lampung, such as pepper, coffee and cassava. With cassava in particular, the price is not stable. With abundant production during the harvest time, prices plummet.
The head of Bank Indonesia in Lampung, Budiharto Setyawan, the chairman of the black pepper community in Lampung, Supangat, the chairman of the Indonesian Spice Council of Lampung, Untung, and the vice chairman of the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters in Lampung, Teddy Suryana, all noted at separate occasions that the agricultural products of Lampung generally had no comparative advantage.
"The products are mostly raw and there is not much added value received by the farmers," said Budiharto. The lack of attention to commodities, especially pepper, had contributed to the extinction of a number of local pepper varieties, Untung said.
The head of Lampung’s Regional Development Planning Agency, Taufik Hidayat, said 31.8 percent of the economy in Lampung was supported by agriculture, forestry and fisheries over the past two years. Lampung\'s economic growth was higher than the national average.
Even so, said Taufik, the government was still grappling with poverty, which affected 1,083,740 people or 13.04 percent of the total population. Reports of children exposed to stunting (failure to grow normally) are also still emerging. Based on data from the Basic Health Study, 59,838 children under five years of age in Central Lampung district experienced stunting in 2013.
Lampung University (Unila) rector Mat Akin said the university had pioneered the development of a cassava research center. The local government in cooperation with Unila will also establish a pepper research center.
(VIO/AIK/GER/WSI)