Farmers Switch from Cultivating Rice amid Subsidized Fertilizer Shortage
If the problem of subsidized fertilizer distribution continues, more farmers may stop growing rice and instead turn to other crops.
By
ANDY RIZA HIDAYAT, DHANANG DAVID, IRENE SARWINDANINGRUM, INSAN ALFAJRI, RHAMA PURNA JATI
·4 minutes read
DEFRI WERDIONO
A farmer in the Kepanjen West Ring Road area, Malang Regency, East Java, Thursday (18/3/2021), is cultivating rice plants that are still a few weeks old.
Almost every year, rice farmers have difficulty obtaining subsidized fertilizers. When they need the fertilizers, there is a delay in distribution. Even when the distribution is on time, the amount of supply is not enough to meet the farmers’ needs. They can’t afford to buy nonsubsidized fertilizers because they are too expensive. Meanwhile, the price of rice always falls during the harvest season.
Badaruddin (48) and Tasmiyati (56) in Sukoharjo village, Semarang regency, Central Java, were among the many farmers who have experienced difficulties in obtaining fertilizers. The distribution of subsidized fertilizers was extremely late during the year-end planting season in 2021.
They tried hard to find fertilizers that were being sold at the government’s reference price. After searching everywhere while competing with other farmers, they finally found the subsidized fertilizer in a neighboring village and purchased it for Rp 180,000 per 50-kilogram sack.
This is higher the government’s reference price for urea, which is Rp 125,000 per 50 kg sack. However, it was still much lower than the price of nonsubsidized fertilizers, which cost Rp 300,000 per 50 kg sack.
"Yes, it is more expensive, but we have to plant our rice. If you wait for the subsidized fertilizer to come, it will be too late," Badaruddin said at his rice farm. When the supply of subsidized fertilizer came, they had already used their money to buy other farming needs.
Wawan Darmawan (55), a farmer in Sumber Mulya village of Muara Telang district, Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra, grew tired of the reoccurring problems with the fertilizer distribution. So he decided to plant his fields with areca nut trees instead. A section of his 2-hectare rice field had been prepared for planting areca nut trees.
RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO
Ade Supriadi (56) spreads Phonska fertilizer on his rice fields in Gedebage, Bandung, West Java, Monday (4/9). Subsidized fertilizers are difficult to access in some areas, so a number of farmers are forced to use non-subsidized fertilizers, which are much more expensive.
Moreover, the allocation of subsidized fertilizer for the farmers’ group in which he was a member had been reduced by half, from 200 kg per hectare in 2020 to 100 kg per hectare in 2021, whereas he said that 1 hectare of rice plants needed at least 200 kg of urea.
Nonsubsidized fertilizer was being sold for between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.2 million per 100 kg in Sumber Mulya village. This was too high for the local farmers.
“There are already many rice farms here that have switched to cultivating coconuts and areca nuts. Maybe they exceed 10 hectares, because it's becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to find subsidized fertilizers," said Wawan.
Difficult
Switching from farming rice to plantation crops was not for Wawan. Moreover, he was a well-known rice farmer in Muara Telang who promoted the conversion of estuary land into rice fields. "However, there is no choice, the cost of living is getting more expensive, we no longer rely on rice can to support our lives at the current price," he said.
For Wawan, cultivating areca nuts and coconuts were more profitable. In the next three to four years, the two commodities could generate net profits of around Rp 50 million a year, or around Rp 4.2 million per month per hectare.
Meanwhile, his monthly earnings from farming rice only reached around Rp 3 million per hectare. "It means that working as a rice farmer in the paddy is very hard, valued only at Rp 100,000 per day. Meanwhile, areca nut and coconut trees require no special care and only a small quantity of fertilizers,” said Wawan.
Irene Sarwindaningrum
Rice fields in Daya Kesuma Village, Muara Sugihan, Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, December 2021.
In Muara Sugihan district, Banyuasin regency, Muklis Suryadi (38) had also prepared oil palm seeds. He planned to cultivate oil palms on 2 ha of his 6 ha rice farm. Meanwhile, the other 4 ha were still used to plant rice because they were still leased under a profit-sharing system with smallholder farmers. In his village, more than 10 ha of rice fields have been planted with oil palms.
Farmers can no longer rely on their incomes from food crops as their livelihood. Previously, Muklis rotated planting rice and corn. For the current planting season, he purchased nonsubsidized fertilizer because he could only buy enough subsidized fertilizer for 1 ha of rice.
If the problem of subsidized fertilizer distribution continues, more farmers may stop growing rice and instead turn to other crops.
According to Muklis, under the current conditions, crop farming is like gambling. There is no guarantee of making a profit from the harvest. "During the main harvest [season], the price of paddy rice usually drops. It can fall fivefold in a day," he said.
Although it is hard to believe, more crop farmers in the region have switched from rice to other commodities once they had enough capital. "We have started preparing dozens of hectares to grow coconut and areca nut trees," said Ahmad Yasir, chairman of the Manunggal Jaya Farmers Group Association in Telang Jaya village.
If the problem of subsidized fertilizer distribution continues, more farmers may stop growing rice and instead turn to other crops.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
