INDONESIA: Ministry to replant 1 million hectares rubber plantation

The Ministry of Agriculture is preparing to replant 1 million hectares of rubber plantations. The purpose of this program is to reduce rubber supply to jack up prices and to increase the productivity of Indonesian rubber industry. 

"The program will be done gradually starting this year," told Gamal Nasir, the ministry's director general of plantation.

Gamal said his department is currently collecting data and information on which areas the program will be executed in. He said that funding will come from the People's Business Credit (KUR).

For the replanting, the government has prepared Rp10 trillion to be disbursed directly to farmers. Farmers who want to obtain the funds can submit a request to the KUR.

Assuming that Indonesian rubber farmers on average have 2 hectares of land, some 500,000 farmers are expected to be able to obtain the loan.

During the replanting, farmers would not be able to harvest their rubber plants. To prevent losses of income, Gamal said, the Agriculture Ministry will supply free corn seeds for the farmers to plant. The Ministry hopes that corn can be an alternative, temporary source of income for rubber farmers while their rubber plantations are being replanted.

The collapse of rubber prices in global markets has greatly affected the life of rubber farmers in Indonesia. In farmers' markets, rubber price was Rp25,000 per kilogram in 2012. Today, it has dropped to just Rp5,000 a kilogram.

Source: Daily “Tempo”, Jakarta; 28 Mar 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)