REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has called for a paradigm change in the policy to increase farmers' profit margins through agrobusiness process.

"If we want to increase profit to farmers, we must change our paradigm. They must enter the business sector, the agrobusiness sector (in particular)," the president stated at a limited meeting at the Presidential Office here on Tuesday.

Also present at the meeting were Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Layout/Chief of the National Land Agency Sofyan Djalil, Minister of National Development Planning/Chief of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Bambang Brodjonegoro, East Java Governor Sukarwo, and Central Java Governor Gandjar Pranowo, among others,

"It is the paradigm that we wish to pursue. This way, the farmers will have their own seed industry and modern production applications. In recent times, it is not difficult to have modern rice mills if banks support the farmers based on feasible calculation," he remarked.

The meeting also discussed a number of steps to improve the farmers' welfare.

"When we look at the farmers' welfare, their exchange value index is a very fundamental issue and when we look back at this issue in several years, we would have always focused on farming," he revealed.

The farming means the farming sector ranging from seed processing to harvest.

"We also forget the fact that farmers can obtain large profit actually from their business process, their agrobusiness process, rather than from the farming sector. Once again, the high value added rests with the business process, the agrobusiness process," he stated.

After all, the president said he did not underestimate the farming sector related to seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.

"Let us not focus on the farming sector related to seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides," he reiterated. 

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