The Central Java provincial government has urged the Andalan Farmers and Fishers Association (KTNA) to implement agricultural digitalization in an effort to get millennials to join the sector.
"The existence of KTNA is crucial for helping to advance and give solutions to problems in the agricultural, fisheries, and animal husbandry sectors, including how KTNA programs can attract the interest of Indonesia's young generation," Central Java regional secretary Sumarno said in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday.
According to Sumarno, KTNA has an important role in realizing national food sovereignty and helping improve the welfare of farmers.
It is a platform for farmers and fishers as well as a government partner for deliberating on agricultural development, he explained.
KTNA has taken the role of a communicator between farmers and the government for helping resolve agricultural problems, he added.
Besides the younger generation's lack of interest in agriculture, the weak bargaining position of farmers and the application of information technology in the sector are also important issues, he said.
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"The management, members, marketing, and distribution networks of KTNA must enter the era of digitalization. (They) have to be digitized and this is a challenge for all of us," Sumarno remarked.
He said he also expects KTNA to help the Central Java administration in cultivating soybeans locally because until now, people are still relying on imported soybeans for making tempeh, tofu, and other soy-based products.
Meanwhile, national KTNA chairman, Yadi Sofyan Noor, said that so far, the management has always tried to carry out its duties and functions.
"Apart from absorbing the aspirations of farmers and fishers, we are also trying to implement government programs to improve farmers' welfare. Our main task is the organization consolidation in provinces, districts, and cities, as well as fixing things that need to be addressed," Noor said.
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