The 49th Anniversary of IPB: FEM of IPB Stages International Lecture
As part of celebrating IPB’s 49th Anniversary, Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM) organized an international lecture by inviting an Indonesianist who has more than 30 years conducting various studies in Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Anne Booth. This was held in cooperation of FEM of IPB with Agricultural Economic Association of Indonesia (PERHEPI) and the topic of the lecture was The Performance of Indonesian Agricultural Sector (5/9).
In his lecture, Professor of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS,) University of London, raised some important issues related to the performance of the agricultural sector in Indonesia. In line with the topic "The Performance of Indonesian Agriculture sector", Prof. Anne Booth highlights a few things: (1) the agricultural sector output growth, (2) the environmental impact of agricultural sector development, (3) the fate of small farmers, (3) income of farmer households, and (5) ownership of agricultural land. These five aspects are examined the period from 1960 to the 2000s. The speaker views that there is a decline in land ownership and the surplus income earned by farmers is invested more in non-farm businesses, not for buying new land. Less optimal role of government in helping the farmers’ businesses can be seen from the condition that approximately 85% of farmers used their own funds for the procurement of inputs and there was lack of institutional support and extension during the period. Highlighting the failure of agrarian reform in Indonesia, Prof. Anne Booth looks at the concentration of population and agricultural activity in Java as a major factor. Transmigration efforts in the period of both president Sukarno and Suharto (more massive transmigration program) by moving more than a million farmers have also turned out to be problematic to the new location because of unfertile land and resistance from local residents.
In the international lecture, two lectures, Dr. Muhammad Firdaus and Dr. M Parulian Hutagaol, of the Department of Economics, FEM IPB, discussed aspects related to what was delivered by Prof. Anne Booth. The first speaker talked about recent developments of Indonesia’s agricultural sector in order to complement the information presented by Prof. Anne Booth. In the view of Dr. M Firdaus, it is important to improve the competitiveness of Indonesian agricultural commodities (mainly plantations and horticulture) by increasing productivity (supply side) through an improved irrigation, R & D, as well as intensive extension. Further, on the demand side (demand side), it is very important to consider the ability of farmers to be able to meet the product requirements of the consumers (quality, look, feel, etc.).
The second speaker discussed future issues primarily of basic food products such as rice. Especially for rice, Dr. Parulian does not agree with the big support of the government in the rice self-sufficiency program. This would lead to many rent hunters (rent seekers) and had no impact on the welfare of farmers. Dr. Parulian argued that the challenges faced in the improvement of rice production through a program of self-sufficiency are the high level of poverty, price fluctuations and the strong relationship between rice and politics. Therefore, he recommends that the government abandon food self-sufficiency program and focus more on the food diversification program.
This event, held in Toyib Auditorium, Faperta IPB, was attended by over 250 participants from the faculty members, government agencies, researchers, and students. It was opened with a welcome speech from Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM), represented by Vice Dean Dr. M. Firdaus and a speech from IPB Rector, Prof. Dr. Heri Suhardiyanto. According to Rector, this international lecture is very appropriate to the theme of IPB’s Anniversary "IPB’s Innovations for National Food Security", in which IPB for the past 40 years has contributed to a variety of innovations for an improved performance of the agricultural sector in Indonesia. Rector also said that IPB has long been part of the agricultural development in Indonesia. In the past five years, IPB has contributed significantly in the most prospective innovation in Indonesia. (Mtd)
