Constraints On The Creation Of Export-based Horticultural Areas

JAKARTA - The government's efforts to encourage the creation of export-based horticultural areas are apparently still constrained by a number of basic things. Secretary of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Susiwijono Moegiarso, said the constraints included weak human resources, farmer institutions, limited capital, lack of assistance and technological innovation, and limited market access.

"The solution, there needs to be a partnership between the government and the private sector that can assist farmers in designing production patterns to marketing to meet domestic needs and for export. This is important so that our farmers become more independent, resilient and able to compete in the global market, ”he said, as quoted from a press release, Saturday, December 28.

According to him, the government has also prepared a strategy to answer these challenges through the integration of a number of policies, which consist of providing land through optimization of social forestry land use policies, increasing production, product quality and competitiveness and increasing access to finance for farmers through people's business credit (KUR) .

In addition, other efforts prepared by the government are increasing market access through e-commerce, logistical support, construction of transportation infrastructure or infrastructure and support in terms of tariff policies and international trade.

Susiwijono added that local government commitment and support is also needed. The support, according to him, can be in the form of land provision, development of supporting infrastructure, strengthening farmer institutions, access to finance, and assistance to farmers which will be the keys to the success of this program.

"Of course, the local government's efforts must be supported by related technical ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade, and the Ministry of Industry," he continued.

Susiwijono said, in order to accelerate the program to increase the export of agricultural products, the government is encouraging the development of export-oriented horticultural areas as a priority program included in the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs' quick wins policy.

This is because the role of the agricultural sector in national economic growth is increasingly important and strategic. The contribution of this sector to the national gross domestic product (GDP) is in the third position after the industrial and trade sectors.

In addition, the agricultural sector is a sector that experiences a surplus while other sectors experience a trade balance deficit. During January-August 2019, the agricultural sector experienced a surplus of 0.34 billion US dollars, or grew by 12 percent from the previous year.

Currently, the development of an export-oriented horticultural area has been carried out in Jembrana, Bali. According to him, in the near future the government will also carry out development in other locations, namely in Bener Meriah Regency, Blitar Regency, and Bondowoso Regency.

"Hopefully, the development of this horticultural area will really be able to contribute to increasing exports and increase the regional economy which in turn has an impact on the welfare of farmers," he concluded.