The Indonesian Peasants Alliance (API) said by selecting the right policy for all farmers, especially in educating them to raise their products` competitiveness, Indonesia potentially could became a number one rice exporter in the region.
"Our farmers can competing in local market, but there is still a big question about Indonesia being a rice exporter, since we are beaten by Vietnam in the terms of quality control," said Mudzakir, Chairman of the Board of Indonesian Peasant Alliance during a session of ASEAN Food Security Conference.
Mudzakir said the biggest challenge to aim the dream of being a rice production center in the world is lacks of education to peasants.
"Food security in the community should be achived by educating the peasants. For instance, they need to know how to maintain crop prices through "wait and see" selling mechanism, so they could gain more profit from the harvest," he said.
Muzdakir also hoped the government would consider a "pro peasant" policy in term of funding and building infrastructures for agriculture, as he reiterating that the government should be more focusing on imbalance of welfare between peasants.
"Traders gather scattered 'aking' rice or dried rice. It is sold Rp1,600kgs in the District of Demak, Central Java, June 2010. Consuming aking rice is often the habit of poor people in some remote villages as the price of rice or cassava is no longer affordable," he said.
Previously, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed to all farmers to work hand in hand to make Indonesia the world`s rice production center.
"We can increase our rice production significantly so our dream of turning Indonesia into a rice production center in the country or the world can come into being," the president said in August.
The President said the government had committed itself to increase budget allocations for the agricultural sector. Hopefully, Indonesia would have a rice surplus of up to 10 million tons in the years to come.
ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) and AMAF Plus Three meetings are being organized here from October 3 to 9, ahead of a major ASEAN Food Security Conference under the theme "Facilitating Food Trade and Investment, Advancing Food Security". (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
