National Outstanding Farmers and Fishermen Association (KTNA) spokesman Winarno Thohir said here on Wednesday.
"Farmers with less than one hectare of farmland will be burdened with the subsidized fertilizer price hikes of 12.5 percent," Winarno said.
He noted that although the prices of subsidized fertilizers rose by Rp200 per kg, it would affect the consumption of fertilizers and crops.
"For the farmers with very small farmland, the price hikes will be influential because their expenses will be greater than their income," he said.
Winarno added that trade of agricultural produce in the country was bad enough so it made the farmers difficult to sell their produce.
According to him, the subsidized urea fertilizer would this year be given pink color to prevent it from being abused.
"In a bid to reduce the abuse of subsidized fertilizer, the Ministry of Agriculture has decided to turn its color from white to pink this year," Winarno said.
In making the color of subsidized fertilizer different from non-subsidized one, Winarno said it would be easier for the authorities and farmers to control the fertilizer distribution.
"The color of urea fertilizers is difficult to erase and therefore turning its color to pink will prevent its abuses," Winarno said.
According to him, big differences in prices between subsidized and non-subsidized fertilizers made the abuses to take place because the price of urea subsidized fertilizer was Rp1,800 per kilogram while the non-subsidized one was Rp4,800 per kilogram.
"In the future, the prices of both subsidized and non subsidized fertilizers will be made the same, and the farmers will be given financial assistance to buy them but it is a long term plan," he said. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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