Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Farmers in Lampung are blaming a month-long fertilizer scarcity in the province on syndicates they allege sell subsidized fertilizer to large plantations.
"Government-subsidized fertilizer disappears from the market just as soon as planting season comes around. The only thing that's available is non-subsidized or fake fertilizer," Zen Sunarto, a farmer in Wates village, Central Lampung, said Wednesday.
"This is a ploy by fertilizer syndicates. Lampung is a center for the sale of subsidized and fake fertilizer."
Sunarto said subsidized fertilizer had been disappearing from the market for the past three years. "I can only obtain non-subsidized fertilizer, but when I check the contents of the sack, it turns out to be tapioca flour mixed with salt and gravel," said the cassava farmer.
Sunarto, who used to work as a fertilizer distributor, said the syndicates involved in the subsidized and fake fertilizer trade were well organized and had backing from the police. "As proof, when I threatened a seller of fake fertilizer, he retorted by saying it was owned by a police officer," he said.
Sarjani, 40, a farmer in Tanjunggading, South Lampung, said he could not find shops or distributors that sold subsidized fertilizer in Bandarlampung or South Lampung over the past month. The government earlier this month allocated 401,745 tons of subsidized fertilizer to the province.
Sunarto's and Sarjani's claims were given credence last Thursday by the arrest of seven people in Katibung district, South Lampung, with 16 tons of subsidized fertilizer. Preliminary investigations by South Lampung Police showed the syndicate included a military corporal.
Garuda Hitam Regional Military Command chief Col. Nugroho Widyotono said the military police had questioned the corporal over his involvement in the syndicate.
He said the questioning revealed the suspect bought fertilizer from a farmers group at Rp 90,000 (US$8.20) per sack and resold it at Rp 100,000. "Larger syndicates are at play, in which many people are involved. We have the data," Nugroho said.
Feishol Djausal, chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association's (HKTI) Lampung office, said the recently uncovered misappropriation of subsidized fertilizer was just the tip of the iceberg in South Lampung.
"The huge price disparity between subsidized and non-subsidized fertilizer has encouraged such syndicates to spring up unfettered," he said. "Subsidized urea, for instance, retails for Rp 1,200 per kilogram, while it can cost Rp 6,800 per kilogram to plantations."
In January this year, Lampung Police uncovered 770 tons of subsidized urea in a warehouse owned by state plantation firm PTPN VII in North Lampung, at a time when local farmers were experiencing a severe fertilizer shortage.
The fertilizer, which should have been sold to farmers, was instead used by the sugar producer, which should have bought it at non-subsidized prices. However, no one has yet been named a suspect in the case.
Lampung provincial councilor Khamanik said law enforcers were to blame for the rampant criminal activity.
"So far I've never heard of any member of a syndicate facing justice. It's not surprising that Lampung has now become a center for the illegal sale of subsidized fertilizer," he said.
"Subsidized fertilizer, intended for farmers in Lampung, is not only sold in Lampung, but also in other provinces across Sumatra and Java."