T

his is a response to the article “Poor irrigation threatens food self-sufficiency” in the Sept. 21 edition of The Jakarta Post.

The province of Central Sulawesi has an area of more than 61,800 square kilometers and is home to a population of 2.63 million as per the 2010 census. It is also the fifth-poorest province in the country, riddled with issues of ethnic clashes, natural calamities and poor infrastructure.

Agriculture is the main source of income for its inhabitants, with rice, corn, soybean and cocoa being the main crops.

But due to poor irrigation and erratic rains, achieving food self-sufficiency is proving a challenge in the province.

As written in the article, the construction of tertiary canals to date is in the purview of farmers who lack the funds and technical knowledge to bring about the required changes.

Also, the existing irrigation networks, like the Malonas irrigation network, the Bunta irrigation network and the province’s self-sufficiency food program “Upsus Pajala” have not produced the desired results.

Due to poor infrastructure, inadequate knowledge and a shortage of water, not even 50 percent of the farmland (combined rice, corn and soybean) is efficiently utilized and cultivated.

Illiteracy, infrastructure issues, food shortage and poverty are all interrelated, and to break this vicious cycle, we will have to work at the root cause of the problem.

The need of the hour is to provide farmers with adequate government support in terms of financing for irrigation infrastructure and empowering the farmers with adequate technical skillsets.

Rainwater harvesting could also be an option to look at. Some tips can also be taken from the cocoa success story. The Monitoring Agriculture Resources (MARS)initiative for sustainable cocoa is working in partnership with the government and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) under the Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Development (READ) program to help farmers reverse the trend of declining production in cocoa crops in Central Sulawesi. It has opened Cocoa Development Centers (CDCs) in the region to increase the quality and quantity of cocoa production.

A similar partnership between the government and private sector could be devised for other important crops, like rice, corn and soybean. This would not only help the region become self-sufficient on food but also boost agricultural exports.

Central Sulawesi is already one of the biggest producers of seaweed in Indonesia, which is among the top 10 seaweed-producing countries in the world. Strengthening its systems and infrastructure can give further impetus to export volumes and will also boost this beautiful province’s tourist attractions like Dombu village, Lore Lindu National Park, Lindu Lake forest and Talisa beach.

This certainly is an opportunity waiting to be unleashed.

Shweta Shukla
Jakarta