Market and product

Heavy rains and an unpopular government policy to increase fertilizer prices have been blamed for decreased harvest production across Bali in the next harvest.

Made Sutama, a farmer in Denpasar, complained that many farmers could not afford to buy fertilizers. "This harvest, our rice contains more water because of the heavy rainfall. This will hurt the price of the rice," he said.

The central government increased the price of fertilizers from April 9 - 2010, which also marked the start of the rice-planting season this year - by issuing a decree raising fertilizer prices by between Rp 200 and Rp 700 per kilogram.

The price of urea increased from Rp 1,200 per kilogram to Rp 1,600 per kilogram. Organic fertilizers also rose from Rp 500 to Rp 700 per kilogram. The prices of other fertilizers including NPK and superphosphates also increased significantly.

Made Ariawan, head of the Bali Agriculture Agency's fertilizer department, explained that one hectare of rice field in Bali required at least 225 kilogram of urea, 200 kilograms of NPK and 100 kilograms of superphosphate fertilizers to boost rice production.

"Each farmer spends at least Rp 1.05 million for fertilizers for one hectare of rice field," Ariawan said.

He added that the province received a subsidy from the central government totaling 57,000 tons of urea and 5,500 tons of superphosphate fertilizer, among others.

The Bali administration has allocated Rp 4 billion in subsidies to local farmers to help them purchase sufficient quantities of fertilizer.

The Bali Agriculture Agency said that the province's rice production was 878,764 tons from its 150,283 hectares of rice fields in 2009, an average yield of 5.847 tons of rice per hectare.

I.B. Wisnuardhana, head of the agency's food crops research and development division, said he expected the policy and the weather would not significantly affect the province's rice production.

"The price hike will certainly decrease farmers' buying power," he said, adding that heavy rains brought on various pests and plant diseases.

"The quality of rice yields will be affected by the rainy season," Wisnuardhana said, adding that his agency had tried to solve the issue by asking local farmers to rotate planting rice with other crops and to choose plant varieties that were more resistant to extreme weather and pests.

(Source: www.thejakartapost.com)