Members of the Regional Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia (DPD-RI) rejected the central government's plan to reduce the budget for fertilizer subsidies through the revised state budget (APBN-P). "The reduction in the fertilizer subsidy budget of around 4.5 trillion in the Revised State Budget which will be carried out by the central government will hit the lives of farmers in all regions of Indonesia," said DPD-RI member Asri Anas in Mamuju, Monday. Asri, who is a DPD-RI representative from West Sulawesi Province, said that in 2010 the government will reduce subsidies for farmers' fertilizers from around Rp. 20.2 trillion in 2009 to around Rp. 15.7 trillion in 2010. So he said, in 2010 through the Revised State Budget there will be a drastic and massive reduction in fertilizer subsidies of around IDR 4.5 trillion, the impact of which will hit farmers' lives and agricultural conditions in this country.

According to him, the government's policy of reducing the budget for fertilizer subsidies is unacceptable, because it is very irrational and will make farmers in our country even poorer. "This government policy should not be tolerated, because it is very irrational, when other countries provide large-scale subsidies for agriculture, the government in this country actually reduces fertilizer subsidies," he said. Asri compares this with Vietnam, which is very small compared to Indonesia, which actually increases subsidies for agriculture to reach around 50 trillion per year. In Indonesia, he said, on the contrary, in this country, fertilizer subsidies have actually been reduced, so that this will make agricultural conditions in this country even worse and below the average welfare of farmers in other poor countries in the world. "The reduction in farmers' fertilizer subsidies by the government will hit farmers because it will be difficult for farmers to buy fertilizer.

This has begun to be felt in various regions, including the province of West Sulawesi, which is my constituency. The price of fertilizer in my area has reached 6,800 per kg," he said. According to him, farmers are starting to experience difficulties because the price of fertilizer has gone up, especially if speculators selling fertilizer play it, the high price of fertilizer will hit farmers' production and automatically make the regional economy increase. Therefore, he asked the central government to revise its policies and prioritize attention to development in this country by increasing fertilizer subsidies for farmers. "The government must reflect on developed countries like Korea and China which prioritize their budget for the agricultural sector, rather than sectors that are not more important than agriculture," he said.

Source: https://www.antaranews.com/berita/180066/anggota-dpr-ri-tolak-penurunan-anggaran-subsidi-pupuk