Reevaluation and Reactualization of "Food Estate"

President Joko Widodo's government has determined the availability of large areas of land for food estates. For example, the development of food estates in Central Kalimantan has been carried out since mid-2020, with a total area reaching 30,000 hectares initially, and It is planned to continue expanding to reach 70,000 hectares in 2024.

Also read: Food Estate Projects Must be Totally Evaluated

However, the success of this project was hampered by a fundamental problem, namely the failure to adapt food crop varieties to swamp and acidic land conditions, the types of land that dominate the food estate in Kalimantan (Fahmid et al, 2022; Marwanto, 2021).

Field empirical evidence that is important to consider in the re-actualization of food estate is the fact that the contribution of swamp land (vulnerable land) to Indonesian rice production is less than 2 percent (Hasbianto et al, 2021). Swamp and peat lands need water management to avoid flooding, especially in Central Kalimantan (Muhardiono, 2021), and management of acidic land.

In general, peatlands and swamps are not conducive to food crops because of low acidity (pH), low NPK content, high levels of toxic elements, such asFe and Al, and the threat of flooding during the rainy season and drought during the dry season (Fahmid et al, 2022). When this cannot be corrected, farming activities on swamp, peat and acidic lands will actually be doomed to failure. This aspect was not handled well by the government when running a food estate in Kalimantan.

Evidence from field investigations conducted by independent researchers and NGOs shows that past mistakes (the million-hectare peatland project during the New Order era) are recurring.

For example, in the Tewai Baru food estate, located in Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan, cassava plantations produced substandard harvests so the government abandoned the location. This means that cassava development in that location is not based on adequate scientific studies.

Sustainability is hampered

Other findings suggest that clearing forest land for food estate projects has exacerbated flooding and soil erosion problems, as well as forcing changes to local agricultural practices. This creates negative environmental impacts and hinders the sustainability of the project (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, 26 April 2023).

Monitoring results from Walhi and BBC Indonesia found that there was a problem with 3,964 hectares (ha) of food estate land, namely loss of tree cover without producing cassava. From January to October 2022, 10 villages lost tree cover in Kapuas, Gunung Mas and Pulang Pisau Regencies.

The project, according to the BPK, failed to implement sustainable agricultural practices.

It is not surprising that the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK) found that the program was poorly planned and carried out with inaccurate data when auditing the program. According to BPK, the project failed to implement sustainable agricultural practices. The location selection process for the program also violated existing government regulations (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, April 26, 2023).

To improve the implementation of food estate, concrete steps must be taken. First, planning and location selection must be based on valid scientific data and studies and take into account economic, socio-cultural and environmental sustainability.

Secondly, it is important to prioritize plants that are suitable for the conditions of peat and swamp land, based on scientific reality in the natural environment rather than just experimental plots.

Third, research by McCarthy and Obidzinski (2017) regarding the implementation of food estates in Kalimantan provides good input to consider that large-scale food estate approaches tend to fail and are not sustainable economically, socially, or the environment when applied on the marginal lands of Kalimantan.

Smallholder-based intensification is more appropriate for the Kalimantan context and better supports food security of local communities even though its contribution is limited to national food production.

Once again, it is important to reevaluate and re-actualize food estates based on empirical evidence from science and technology so that we can implement policies that are truly feasible, both technically, socially, economically, environmentally and culturally. . It is not solely deemed appropriate because of political decisions.

Andi Irawan, Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Bengkulu, Chair of ASASI Public Policy Division