VIVAnews - The government will implement a new agricultural subsidy system by 2011.
“It’s a direct subsidy for the farmers,” Deputy Coordinating Ministry for the Economy on Agriculture and Maritime Affairs, Bayu Khrisnamurti, said at his office, Lapangan Banteng, Jakarta on Monday, July 27.
The system, he said, is being formatted.
“Mainly, it’s a direct subsidy for the farmers. All this time, the subsidy was being given in the form of commodities such as fertilizers or rice. So, the target is more general,” Khrisnamurti said.
Meanwhile, through the new subsidy system, the government’s policy will be aimed at targeted subsidies.
“Fuel subsidy will also be granted in the same way. For instance, those who ride Mercedes or any other luxurious cars will not be subsidized,” he said.
However, Khrisnamurti still could not mention the amount of fund allocated for the new subsidy system. “The amount will depend on the format of the mechanism. But frankly we want to distribute subsidies with a better mechanism,“ he said.
He also said the new system will be tested by 2010 in 10 provinces. “Almost every province in Java will be involved. The rest are provinces in Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan,“ he said.
Meanwhile, the old agricultural subsidy system would still be implemented until 2010. “The new system won’t be used in 2010. It will only be tested,“ The Minister said.
In order to determine a better agricultural system, the Ministry will refer to the 2009 List of Agricultural Businesses which was released by the government recently. “Last June the Central Statistics Agency has successfully made a list of agricultural businesses which was requested by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy,” Khrisnamurti said.
17.83 million of agricultural businesses have been listed. The list include businesses run by 14.99 rice farmers, 1.16 soybean farmers and 195 hundred sugarcane farmers. “If the numbers are added, there would be more than 17.83 million businesses listed because some farmers are cultivating more than one commodity,“ he said.
The list aims to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of agricultural subsidy. “We have a huge amount of subsidy. The fertilizers cost Rp 17 trillion alone and that doesn’t include the seeds and the credit,“ he said.
The 2009 List of Agricultural Business includes a complete data of the farmers which consists of their names, addresses, land width, farming groups and type of fertilizers and credit they are using. “The data will be the basis in preparing a better agricultural subsidy system,“ Khrisnamurti said.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
