Land Normalization for Rice Field

Having Speculation with the Government's Loyal Promise

The country vision to achieve food self-sufficiency  makes the government do various breakthroughs such as to normalize irrigation channels, to build water dams, and to expand the rice fields. It is not surprising that when the government officers visit villages, there will be always completed with big harvesting moment and opening officially reservoirs and dams. We all pray and support the efforts so that this goal of food self-sufficiency will be really achieved.

On the contrary, currently the majority of farmers in North Bengkulu plant vegetable crops. They are reluctant to cultivate unprofitable rice as the past experience gave them a fact that they  always lost with rice field. The government does not guarantee the availability of fertilizer and the absence disrupts the growth of the plant. Frequently farmers lose and they are forced to divert vegetable plants (including rice) to crops (oil palm). Honestly, they grow oil palm and rubber in rice fields that should be planted with vegetable and rice. However, their family's economic condition improves.

The growing plantation with monoculture models brings impact in which environmental activists show data on environmental damage caused by the development of oil palm plantations. The most obvious is the loss of biodiversity that triggers the declining quality of land and the emergence of pests and plant diseases. Social problems then also follow, such as, land-use license, land acquisition and compensation, and many others. The impacts should be a review to make next policies and efforts, especially for land normalization plans.

In mid-April 2017, feeling unrest was felt among plantation farmers in North Bengkulu. From several information sources obtained, such as, from a resident working on the Ministry of Agriculture project and from a worker of rice fields normalization project in Muko-Muko District, it was found that the government planned to dismantle palm plantation in Muko-muko regency (the northern regency in Bengkulu Province) that its function had been switched from rice field into plantation. The data shows that the land area to be normalized in  Bengkulu province reaches 1,850 hectares, of which 1,200 hectares are located in Muko-muko.

In the midst of such anxiety, the government reassures the farmers by giving a guarantee of irrigation and maintaining fertilizer supply for farmers. Based on the socialized calculations, it is found that growing rice is actually more profitable than growing oil palm and rubber. The calculation is as follows; for one hectare of rice (assuming minimal pests and the availability of fertilizer and running water) farmers can earn Rp 64,000,000 per year. Meanwhile, by planting rubber and oil palm, farmers earn between Rp 28.000.000,- to Rp 32.000.000,-only. For this comparison, the farmers becomes aware that the benefits will be greater if the farmers cultivate their land with vegetable plants and rice. Why are people shifting vegetable crops to oil palm and rubber even if the yield is less than rice? Rubber and palm give them a definite income.

Furthermore, enthusiastic citizens abruptly responded to the normalization of the land, they immediately plant their land with rice even though the palm trees have not been dismantled from their land. Future time will prove whether the government keeps the promise to guarantee irrigation, the availability of fertilizer, or whether the farmer will become just the market object for fertilizer, seed and pesticide. Moreover, optimism needs to be grown to keep working on the land, water and air in this country. (YDA)