Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (Antaranews Kalsel) - In the last six months farmers in Kotabaru District, South Kalimantan, have been facing a dilemma when managing their farm they have cultivated for more than ten years.
It costs not a little to cultivate, while the yield is not worth the costs. But, if not managed or farm abandoned, it will be overgrown with shrubs, eventually disrupting the growth of oil palm trees.
While harvest wages ranged from Rp200 to Rp210 per kg, soaring fertilizer and pesticides prices made independent smallholders have to think whether to manage or not their farm lately.
This happened because of the selling price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) pegged by traders was very low with a range of Rp650 - Rp725 per kg.
Whereas farmers did not enjoy the results of selling FFB fully, as they still have to pay for harvest wages, fertilization, and weeds clearing cost.
This condition eventually made farmers only able to surrender and was forced to sell their palm oil crops at prices set by middlemen.
Abi Hanafi, one of the collectors, claimed to sell FFB to factories about Rp960 per kg. But it would be reduced by transportation costs from the plantation to the factory.
In addition to transportation costs, there are still other costs, such as driver's salary, parking fees, and driver's meal money to pay each of selling fruit to the factory.
An oil palm farmer in Kelumpang Hilir Subdistrict felt hopeless. She did not harvest the crop, because prices cannot cover operational costs.
"God willing, we will harvest our oil palm plantation if the FFB price starts to improve," said Ummi Bisri, the farmer.
The difficult conditions experienced by farmers and FFB traders in Kotabaru do not rule out the same possibility of oil palm farmers in other areas in South Kalimantan.
The low selling price of FFB can actually be overcome if the company apply the price set by the South Kalimantan Plantation and Livestock Agency. Periodically it conducts coordination meetings with relevant agencies to discuss and determine the price of FFB and its derivatives.
However, in reality, companies or crude palm oil (CPO) factories buying of farmers'' FFB is not based on prices set by the government (the agency). They have their own standard prices as acknowledged by Deputy Secretary of the Cooperative Unit of Gajah Mada Village, Narso.
Based on the government price, the FFB of three years planting age is Rp.988/ kg, four years planting age Rp1,095/kg, five years Rp1,177/kg, six years Rp1,222/kg, seven years Rp1.293/kg, and eight-year Rp1,312/kg.
Nine-year planting period of IDR 1,336/kg, planting age of 10 and 11 years IDR 1,360/kg, 12 years IDR 1,365/kg, and 13 years IDR 1,367/kg.
The price per September is quite encouraging for farmers if applied by CPO companies in Kotabaru and its surroundings. But somehow until when farmers have to be patient, wait for the government to help resolve the problem.
The government is urgently needed to bridge the problems of FFB prices between farmers and company. Because, if left to drag on, it is possible the spirit of the independent smallholders will be slack, as there is no guarantee of FFB prices in the future.
While economic movements in rural areas, especially in oil palm plantations are recognized quite rapidly. The purchasing power of people in the region is quite high compared to areas that produce commodities other than oil palm.
Many children of oil palm farmers continue their education at favorite schools or colleges, opening up employment opportunities. Even in villages where people plant oil palm, unemployment is not found.
Build your own factory
Chairman of the South Kalimantan Oil Palm Farmers Association (Apkasindo) Samsul Bahri said, one of the reasons for the company was because farmers had not partnered with them. While another reason is that the company already has its own FFB.
But in fact, the company continues to buy fruit farmers with their own prices. Even though in Tanah Laut, only one palm oil mill bought farmer's FFB.
According to Samsul, the solution that can overcome the problem of the price of FFB for farmers is to build their own factories. "With their own factory there is a guarantee of the price of farmers' FFB," he said.
To build the CPO factory, Apkasindo Cooperative cooperates with local investors, namely Batu Gunung Mulia Putra, who is based in Tapin. The company will build a palm oil mill in Tanah Laut and will buy farmer's FFB.
Another solution that can be done is cooperation between the government and farmers, starting at the RT (neighborhood unit) level or village head to the center. It is expected that it will erase the half-hearted impression has been labeled to the government.
The problem is that the government through the Plantation and Animal Husbandry Agency together with related institutions every month sets the price of FFB and its derivatives. But the fact is that the farmers' FFB field was bought not based on that provision.
That can happen because it does not rule out the possibility that supervision is not optimal, so the company seems neglectful about the provision, because there is no strict supervision and sanctions.
Through this pattern of cooperation, it is expected that the problems faced by farmers can be directly conveyed to the government, then all problems will be solved faster and not protracted.
