ID :
29194
Sat, 11/08/2008 - 22:50
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/29194
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S ACEH FARMERS COMPLAIN ABOUT STEEP DROP IN OILPALM FRUIT PRICE
Tapaktuan, Indonesia, Nov 8 (ANTARA) - Traditional oilpalm farmers in South Aceh are complaining about a steep drop in the price of fresh oilpalm fruits (TBS) which has been going on for almost a month.
"The price of the commodity has dropped from Rp1,300 to Rp200 per kilogram and this has gone on for almost a month so that we now tend to leave the fruits to rot in the trees," one of the farmers in Tapaktuan, Jamadi Pohan, said here on Saturday.
He said other farmers had sold their land to repay credits they had taken to pay workers or finance cultivation. "Because of the price drop, farmers sell their land to pay credits," he said.
He said with the oil-palm fruit price now standing at Rp200 per kilogram, farmers were no longer able to cover the costs of planting, fertilizer, nursing, harvesting and transportation.
Meanwhile, a provincial legislative assembly member dealing with agriculture, Mudasir, said the slump in the oil-palm fruit price was the result of the current global economic crisis. He said to mitigate the problem, the government should set a floor price for the commodity.
He also said the local administration needed to revise its policy on plantation diversification so that farmers could plant not only oilpalm but also other commercial crops according to seasons and soil conditions.
"The price of the commodity has dropped from Rp1,300 to Rp200 per kilogram and this has gone on for almost a month so that we now tend to leave the fruits to rot in the trees," one of the farmers in Tapaktuan, Jamadi Pohan, said here on Saturday.
He said other farmers had sold their land to repay credits they had taken to pay workers or finance cultivation. "Because of the price drop, farmers sell their land to pay credits," he said.
He said with the oil-palm fruit price now standing at Rp200 per kilogram, farmers were no longer able to cover the costs of planting, fertilizer, nursing, harvesting and transportation.
Meanwhile, a provincial legislative assembly member dealing with agriculture, Mudasir, said the slump in the oil-palm fruit price was the result of the current global economic crisis. He said to mitigate the problem, the government should set a floor price for the commodity.
He also said the local administration needed to revise its policy on plantation diversification so that farmers could plant not only oilpalm but also other commercial crops according to seasons and soil conditions.
