The South Sumatera Plantation Office appealed to rubber farmers to be mentally prepared to survive amid falling prices due to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was said by the Head of Processing and Marketing of Products (P2HP) of the South Sumatera Plantation Office, Rudi Arpian, Tuesday (3/31/2020).

Rubber farmers are urged to survive in this challenging situation, while the government is preparing direct assistance both through the social service with its social safety net, as well as the reallocation policy of APBD and APBN, said Rudi.

It is known, the price of rubber at the farm level continues to decline. Even Disbun noted the average price of rubber in March 2020, which was Rp. 14,809 per kg for KKK (dry rubber content) 100% was the lowest point since the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, Andri Alfa, a rubber farmer in Pulau Rajak Village, Betung Subdistrict, Banyuasin Regency, said that his daily income had dropped to half of the normal conditions.
He said currently the price received by farmers through the auction mechanism in the processing unit and marketing of rubber processing materials (UPPB) reached Rp. 7,200 per kg.

The price of the KKK is around 70%. According to him, the auction price is still better if farmers sell directly to collectors, which is only around Rp 6,000 per kg. Andri added that even farmers are currently seized with worries if the rubber factory stops operating.

The reason, said Andri, the majority of farmers rely solely on rubber commodities as a livelihood. At the same time, for a profession change, it is also difficult, for example, to trade capital is needed, while prices have gone up. Meanwhile, to divert plants, Andri assessed, government regulations constrained his party. He said farmers tend to open land for rice fields by burning. While the government strictly prohibits the burning of property to avoid forest and land fires (forest and land fires).

Thus, he hopes the government can immediately assist farmers amid difficult times. One of them is in the form of infrastructure that supports rubber farmers to cultivate their land. ***

Bisnis.com, 31/03/2010