a-journey, a-dot

I read very interesting article in Kompas yesterday.. highlighting agriculture problems in Indonesia. Why we no longer self contained in basic commodities in this case is rice. Since 1984, we no longer able to fulfill demand for that basic commodity. ‘Green revolution” .. one century ago was being said as survivor for most Asian countries including Indonesia. “Green revolution” was supported by three key factors i.e.: improved varieties, irrigation, and fertilizer.

Technology from developed countries is not merely applicable to the
developing countries since such technology needs lot of energy and
resources, said Widjang Herry Sisworo, a soil scientist from Batan
(Badan Tenaga Nuklir Nasional). Introduction of new variety will only
succeed if supported  by application of high intensity fertilizer. The
problem is unaffordable fertilizer prices, which increase rapidly with
the oil price increase. On the other hand, irrigation field for the
past three decades already forced to have a high productivity yield
with man-made fertilizer and the application already beyond the limit,
resulting degradation of soil condition – poor organic substance in
soil. So it is strongly suggested to have natural fertilizer that
providing natural N (nitrogen) and other substance like P/fosfor,
K/Kalium, Zn/Zinc. Some species like Azolla is known to have ability to
absorp 25-30 kg of Nitrogen  per hectar in 30 days. In Srilanka, Azolla
was able to increase fertilizer efficiency up to 56 percent and 35
percent in Thailand. Organic garbage in the city  must be returned to
rural area to be used as organic fertilizer. This also can help to
reduce dependency to imported fertilizer, said Prasetyo Sunaryo from
BPPT.

In Indonesia, we depend on unorganic fertilizer. Unfortunately organic
fertilizer is not merely a “buy, distribute, and apply” ..  -which
often make rooms for financial profit…  And somehow, some people in
the authorities and trading are lazy to take care that non-trading
items…  why?? and they do not have enough commitment, integrity
and experience in handling, teaching, and mobilize the community…
So.. what to fix first??