REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The agriculture insurance program, particularly that related to food crop plantation, with the premium borne by the government should be realized this year, an economist said.

"The government should be able to guarantee and provide the insurance premium to farmers because it already has ample fiscal room in the state budget," Director of the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Enny Sri Hartarti stated here on Wednesday (7/1).

She added that the government had ample fiscal room in the 2015 state budget after it cut down subsidies and expenditures of government ministries/institutions.

"The need for the insurance could be mapped out later. It is not necessary that the insurance has to be given to all types of commodities, such as rice," she remarked.

Hartarti urged the government to be serious in implementing the food crop plantation insurance scheme. After all, it had promised to relocate the budget previously allocated for the consumptive sector to productive ones.

The economist further noted that the food crop insurance scheme was in line with the promise made by President Joko Widodo, who wanted to improve the welfare of the people and to protect farmers while doubling the country's food production to become self-sufficient.

"Farmers face the high risk posed by harvest failures. Therefore, the government should think about protecting them. The insurance scheme will also make it easier for farmers to obtain financial assistance," the Indef director explained.

To support the effectiveness of the insurance program in its early stages, the program for food crop plantation will be given priority.

Furthermore, the Agriculture Ministry once tried this insurance program on a 3,000-hectare plot of land in East Java, West Java and South Sumatra.

The insurance trial was done by Rice Farm Insurance (AUTP), Indonesian Insurance Service PT Jasa Asuransi Indonesia (Jaspindo) and state-owned fertilizers company PT Pupuk Indonesia.

At that time, the insurance premium, based on a statement made by former agriculture minister Suswono, was Rp180 thousand per hectare.

The agriculture insurance program is regulated by Law No. 19/2013 on the protection and empowerment of farmers.

Article 39 of the law stipulates that the central and regional governments, based on their authorities, have the obligation to safeguard farmers' endeavors in the form of protection by providing various insurance facilities.

The Indonesian government earlier pointed out that it will focus on developing infrastructure and on achieving food resilience with regard to the revised 2015 draft budget.

"My directive is that in 2015, our focus must first be on infrastructure and then on activities related to food issues," President Joko Widodo emphasized while opening a plenary cabinet meeting at his office on December 24, 2014.

He said that the government's focus in 2015 would be on these two issues and that in the years to come, the focus would be diverted to others.

President Joko Widodo also stated that the government will carry out various programs that are viewed as productive and useful.

Earlier that day, the president had held a limited cabinet meeting at his office to discuss the fuel subsidy scheme for 2015.

"We know that the world crude price has dropped," he observed while opening the meeting.

In view of that, matters pertaining to their stance on fuel subsidy spending in the budget would be discussed.

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