Four Decades of Aid Work

In 2015 Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture and an ICDF technical mission launched a four-year program in Ban­dung, called Strengthening Incubator Agribusiness with Human Resources Development, to address a range of agricultural challenges. “We focused on helping local farmers improve their business models and increase profits,” says Douglas Moh, leader of the Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Indonesia.

Douglas Moh, leader of the Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Indonesia, hopes that the ICDF’s technical cooperation will help boost farmers’ profits.

Agricultural expertise delivered on-site

At present Indonesian farming faces numerous challenges, including combating pests and diseases and improving soil fertility. One factor limiting crop output is the lack of professional management of the farmland.

In a village located only a short distance from the National Agricultural Training Center at Lem­bang (LNATC), cabbages are sprouting from a small plot of land. This is the chief crop, but the plot is also scattered with chili pepper plants, while eggplant is grown in one corner of the field. In fact, the plot overflows with all types of vegetables. “This is a common sight in Indonesia, a typical lack of crop rotation management,” Moh says.

Because different crops have different planting seasons and need different amounts of water, the mixing of different crops causes pests and diseases to spread among the various vegetables and results in poor harvests.

To help address this, the ICDF work station at LNATC has offered more than 60 training programs focusing on production and marketing and the adoption of advanced agricultural techniques, in addition to providing healthy seeds and seedlings. To date 90 extension officers, who in turn counsel local farmers, and 60 farmers, have taken part in the program. This year, moreover, the agricultural training teams began to travel directly to local farms to give on-site advice and assistance.

The area around Bandung, known for the quality of its water and soil, is an important source of high-value vegetable crops for Indonesia.

Improving techniques, building brands

The technical missions are also eager to share Taiwan’s agricultural production and marketing methods through the assistance program. In Taiwan since 1952 farmers’ associations have been teaching new cultivation techniques and have established comprehensive training programs, which became a model for agricultural production and marketing organizations. Over the 60 years since then these have come to provide a foundation for Taiwan’s agricultural industry. Under government guidance, Indonesia has also established many local and regional production and marketing teams, but they suffer from a lack of expertise in both the division of labor and organizational structure.

Moh explains that the Indonesian production and marketing organizations lack the institutional support of those in Taiwan. In Indonesia they make little attempt to coordinate their actions, compete with one another, and suffer from a lack of solidarity. The lack of diversified sales networks also results in the leaders of production teams acting as middlemen, directly purchasing crops from farmers. “In this model, crops often fail to fetch proper prices,” Moh says.

Under the guidance of the ICDF, one agricultural cooperative increased market visibility by establishing a brand name for its produce, marketing it under the name BAVAS, a combination of “Ban­dung” and “vegetables.” “The branding process results in higher prices for agricultural products,” Moh says.

With Indonesia’s economy growing at annual rates of at least 5‡6%, demand for safe, quality produce is increasing among the country’s growing middle class. And since Indonesia’s food safety inspection mechanisms are not yet fully established, an ICDF label is used to reassure consumers about the quality of local fruits and vegetables.

The trial establishment of a produce distribution facility has also given local agricultural enterprises a leg up. In 2016, with the aid of the Taiwan Technical Mission in Indonesia, the distribution center was established at the LNATC. The spacious, well-lit facility is equipped for the refrigeration, sorting, grading, washing, packaging, storage and shipment of produce. Such a facility is rare in Indonesia, where most produce is still prepared for market by family enterprises using basic techniques. “In the future farmers will be able to increase the value of their crops by using the center’s advanced techniques for preparing the goods for market,” Moh says. 

The facility also includes four large “smart greenhouses,” examples of Taiwan’s advanced automated agricultural techniques. Pan Po Yuan, a specialist at the ICDF’s Ban­dung work station, explains that the sprinklers and sunlight levels in the greenhouses are self-­regulating. Data on temperature, humidity and airflow are also processed by computers that can quickly adjust conditions in the greenhouses.   

Although most Indonesian farmers can’t as yet afford smart greenhouses, the facilities nonetheless demonstrate the potential of automation. Just as in Taiwan, the Indonesian agricultural sector is facing a shortage of younger workers willing to take up the arduous work. “Automated greenhouse techniques demonstrate to local farmers the benefits of applying advanced technology to traditional farms,” Moh says. 

Automated greenhouses also provide market opportunities for Taiwanese sellers of agriculture-related equipment and materials. Pan points out that bamboo and other low-cost materials are commonly used in Indonesia for the construction of greenhouses.

“If adapted to local climatic conditions, modular building materials offer real possibilities,” Pan says.

Local farmers can modify their facilities as they see fit to meet farming requirements. “Having become familiar with Taiwan’s automated technologies, farmers will be eager to purchase such technologies once they have sufficient capital, and Taiwanese equipment will likely be their first choice,” Moh says.

There is a precedent for this type of agricultural technical assistance in Indonesia, in an earlier initiative also focusing on seed and seedling production, arable land management and post-harvest marketing operations. In 2011 an ICDF technical mission in conjunction with Indonesia’s Bo­gor Agriculture University established the Bo­gor Agribusiness Development Center to enhance farmers’ incomes through specialized cultivation techniques and marketing concepts.

Aside from enhancing the expertise of farmers and addressing post-harvest distribution problems, the Bo­gor project also helped local farmers cultivate tomatoes, sweet peppers, potatoes, and other high-value fruits and vegetables popular in Asia. After test plantings of crystal guavas, for example, the fruit quickly appeared in super­markets. Taiwanese entrepreneurs in Indonesia subsequently planted orchards covering ten hectares, which can produce about 100 tons of the fruit per month.

Training courses at the ICDF’s Bandung work station teach local farmers advanced farming techniques.

Boosting the rice supply

In mid-September of this year, the ICDF also agreed to cooperate with Ha­sa­nud­din University, located in South Su­la­wesi, to implement the High Quality Rice Seed Development Project.

The project will be implemented in the province of South Su­la­wesi, located on a long, narrow peninsula in the southeast of the island of Su­la­wesi. It is a prosperous coastal region and an important rice-growing center. Although Indonesia ranks among the world’s three largest rice-producing nations, both the quantity and the quality of the rice crop have fallen short of expectations. For many years now, Indonesia has been forced to rely on imported rice to meet local demand.

“One of the key reasons is inadequate irrigation facilities,” says Moh. From the end of the Dutch colonial era during World War II until the present, only 45% of irrigation facilities have been modernized and water supplies are limited, thus affecting agricultural output. The lack of mechanized farming is also limiting crop production. In the future the adoption of collective production and marketing will help with the adoption of a specialized division of labor in rice farming, with different tasks such as field preparation and harvesting being put out to contractors.

Yet the planting of healthy seedlings remains the most important factor in raising crop output. Therefore one aspect of the current plan will help local production teams to turn over 300 hectares of arable land to growing rice seedlings. In future, this should increase the seedling supply by 15%.

“Carrying out technical assistance plans is the best way for Taiwan to showcase our technology and expertise,” Moh says.                                       

At an ICDF training course, Ramdlani Husni, head of a production and marketing team, focuses on developing specialized professional knowledge.

Pan Po Yuan (left), an ICDF specialist, meets with local farmers to help with farming techniques.

The “smart greenhouse” at the ICDF’s Bandung work station is an example of the automated management used in Taiwan’s agricultural sector.

The “smart greenhouse” at the ICDF’s Bandung work station is an example of the automated management used in Taiwan’s agricultural sector.

Starting with the cultivation of seedlings, the ICDF showcases the technology and expertise of Taiwanese agriculture.

Quality control and branding can raise the value of agricultural produce.