By: Zainudin Zidan) *
The Job Creation Law was designed by the government to benefit not only workers and employers, but also farmers. There will be ease of partnership and investment. So they become modern farmers who earn a lot of money. Indonesia is not only a developed agrarian country, but also has a capable food processing industry.
Indonesia is famous for its natural wealth, but why are farmers still poor? The farmer profession is less famous than entrepreneurs or civil servants. Because it is considered less prestigious and the income is less stable. Even though the services of the farmers are very large, because they are the ones who maintain the food security of the Indonesian people.
To help farmers and at the same time overcome the problem of food security in Indonesia, the government issued a Job Creation Law. The sapujagat law also helps farmers, because there is an agricultural cluster. So that farmers will feel helped, because the government designed this law so that they are no longer trapped in the seduction of naughty middlemen.
So how can the government save the farmers through law? It is the rules that need to be addressed first. Because we have been trapped in bureaucracy for too long. So that when there is a regulation that foreign investors can enter Indonesia with a guarantee of ease of doing business, they will be able to joint ventures with farmers.
Farmers can be invited to work together by setting up agricultural processing factories. For example, cassava is not only sold just like that, but it is processed into mocaf flour, so the price is doubled. Mocaf is popular with modern society because it is gluten free. So it is safe for consumption for diabetes survivors and autistic children.
Deputy Chairman of KADIN for Food Processing and Industry, Juan Permata Adoe, stated that the implementation of the Job Creation Law would accelerate the agricultural sector. Because there is also a P3 (public private partnership) program. Between entrepreneurs, farmers and BUMN.
This cooperation will benefit farmers, because they are fostered by BUMN and given training by entrepreneurs. So that there will be mutually beneficial cooperation, and they will not bite their fingers because of crop failure. Farmers will get knowledge, not only cash.
The entrepreneurs will brief the farmers on modern marketing methods, for example contacting them via WA and selling agricultural products online. Farmers will not depend on bad middlemen, who play with prices and make them lose heavily. They even dare to reject the ngijon system.
Syahroni, Director of the Agroecology Institute, stated that the Job Creation Law is indeed good. However, the derivative rules need to be underlined, in the sense that they do not conflict with articles in the law. According to him, the Job Creation Law should provide space for 2 schools of agriculture, namely modern agriculture and environmentally friendly agriculture.
We may lose to farmers in Europe because of the lack of modernization of working tools. The manual plowing system or the buffalo can be replaced with a good quality tractor. Meanwhile, you can spray fertilizer with a special tool attached to the drone. So that the yields obtained will be plump, fertile, and harvest faster. All of this because of the Job Creation Law.
Meanwhile, the derivative rules in the Job Creation Law should also be pro on environmentally friendly agriculture. Currently, there is a trend for organic vegetables and fruits, so farmers should not kill pests with chemical pesticides. They should use natural fertilizers and environmentally friendly insecticides, so that their crops are 100% organic.
Organic fruits and vegetables are more expensive to sell. So that it will benefit farmers. They can rely on their own agricultural products, because they master modern and environmentally friendly agricultural science, and can market themselves. Farmers will be the hosts in their own country and we don’t have to import anymore.
The implementation of the Job Creation Law and its derivative regulations in agriculture must be carried out properly. The goal is for the farmers to be prosperous and they will not be entangled in the seduction of loan sharks, because the harvest has failed again. The Job Creation Law and its derivative regulations must embrace farmers, so that we can become self-sufficient in agricultural products and even dare to export them.
) * The author is a Millennial Muslim United contributor in Bandung
