SIEJ, Jakarta – Data owned by the Food Security Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture said that the potential food sources in Indonesia is enough, namely: 77 carbohydrate source types, 26 nuts types, 389 fruit types, 228 vegetable types, and 110 spice types. It proves that Indonesia is a country that is rich in biodiversity.
Ironically, in the index of food security, Indonesia was ranked 64 is way below Malaysia (33), China (38), Thailand (45), Vietnam (55) and Philippines (63). It illustrates that Indonesia experienced problems in the sector of food security.
Bambang Budhianto, Director Of Food Plants Germination, General Directorate of Food Plants said that the productivity of rice every year in Indonesia always increased by 1-3 percent. “Data from BPS for rice, over the last 30 years our rice production doubled, while corn even quadrupled,” he said in Jakarta (13/8).
In the meantime since 2005 to 2014 his institution already undoing 844 new varieties to be grown in Indonesia. Many programs also have been made to boost the results of Indonesia’s food plants production, such as seed subsidies, an increase in the production of certified seed, socialization of agriculture and others.
Response to it, Tejo Wahyu Jatmiko, coordinator of Serikat Bersama Indonesia Berseru and coordinator of Aliansi Desa Sejahtera said that the achievement is still considered less significant. The number of imported foodstuffs are still quite high, this is evidence that there are problems of food security in Indonesia.
He criticized that in this current government, Indonesia had not paying attention to the food problem. “In fact, all people need food, we eat three times a day plus snacks,” he said. He took the example of America as developed country are increasingly active in developing his country’s food even the world, and now he has become a country leader of world food.
Justify it, Andreas Dwi Santosa, Chairman of the Indonesia Farm Seed Bank Association said that developed countries continues to intensively develop food problem because this sector is indeed very important in life as well as mastery in the energy sector. “First, developing countries as foodstuffs exporters, but now turned to import foodstuffs from developed countries, he said.
Further he said that today, 67 percent of seed market in Indonesia is dominated by 10 multinational companies, and 99.9 percent genetically modified seeds are also controlled by multinational companies. “78 percent of the seed market is dominated by foreign companies, not to mention the 500 thousand farmers have to exit from its land,” he added.
In the discussion mentioned that the farmer in the Indonesia experienced a lot of problems, from utilization of the natural resources that are not optimal, depletion of agricultural land, limited agricultural infrastructure, to the lack of availability of seeds. It affected on Indonesia’s food production that drastically dropped and Indonesia’s dependence on imported foodstuffs.
Dwi outlines the average import of rice in 2010-2013 compared to 2004 increased by 482,6 percent, beef 349,6 percent; chilli 141 percent; sugar 114,6 percent; Onion 99.8 per cent; corn 89 percent; soybean 56,8 percent and wheat 45,2 percent.
“The seed is very important because the failure and success of agriculture determined by seed,” he said. Therefore, to achieve food sovereignty, he said the sovereignty of farmers over seed must be returned also developing local seed and varieties from the results of a cross-over by small farmers. Januar Hakam.