ndilalah ketemu PO

Apa itu PO. PO adalah singkatan dari pertanian organik. Tapi belum cukup populer. Aku dengar kata-kata ini sekitar 2 tahun lalu. Pada sebuah kesempatan yang aneh.

Hari itu aku dan prima sedang main ke pusat studi realino. Untuk mencari sesuatu yang akan digunakan sebagai bahan riset profesor Park Jae Bong. Alias pak Korea. Dan kami secara ajaib nyasar di ruatu ruang penuh tabloid. Karena suasananya yang nyaman, kami duduk-duduk disitu. Dan tiba2 datanglah beberapa orang laki2. yang satu berwajah bulat ramah dan bersih, satunya lagi bertampang sangar dengan rambut gondrong dan kumis lebat terentang. Dan entah bagaimana awalnya kami tiba-tiba sudah terlibat dalam percakapan seru dengan para laki-laki tersebut. Tentang impor beras besar-besaran oleh SBY yang jelas akan memukul harga dasar gabah, tentang pertanian organik, tentang sahani, dan tentang mitra tani. Bapak berwajah bulat rupanya adalah pemilik Sahani. Usaha yang bergerak di bidang pertanian organik, yang rajin menyuplai produk2nya salah satunya ke milas (itu aja yang kutahu) dan sekarang sedang mengembangkan fair Trade di pertanian jogja, tapi rupanya belum siap untuk menerima peneliti. Dan bapak satunya lagi adalah pak siwi, fasilitator PO untuk di berbagai jaringan.

Pagi itu, pukul enam pagi kami sudah meluncur mulus di jalan magelang dalam Honda CRV bu ien menuju sawangan.

Ada apa di sawangan? Kami (aku, prima, mb tiwi dan bu ien) sedang keranjingan dengan pertanian organik. Dan bu ien+mb tiwi yang sedang mengembangkan pertanian melati dan rempon untuk bisnis ekstrak mereka, ingin melirik sejenak ke PO. Setelah bertanya sana- sini, kami akhrinya menemukan juga rumah pak siwi. Sangat sederhana dengan lantai tanah, dan atap yang usang dimakan panas dan hujan. Berbagai satwa rumahan memenuhi rumah pak siwi. Mulai dari kucing, anjing, ayam, kelinci. Pak siwi sangat ramah dan menyuguhi kami dengan banyak penganan yang tanpa malu2 langsung kulahap – mentang2 belum sarapan (teman2ku menjulukiku pemalu—perempuan makan melulu :p)

Pertanian organik sangat akrab dengan lingkungan, dan perlu disosialisasikan dengan lebih luas mengingat semakin banyaknya dampak negatif terhadap lingkungan yang terjadi akibat penerapan teknologi intensifikasi yang mengandalkan bahan kimia pertanian.

Di samping itu, makin meningkatnya jumlah konsumen produksi bersih dan menyehatkan serta meluasnya gerakan “green consumer” makin mendorong urgensi PO. Gerakan PO di Indonesia dipelopori oleh LSM serta dipercepat dengan adanya program ekolabel dan ISO 14000.
STATING THE CASE.

The annual growth rate of the organic market is projected to be 20-30%. Some expect the global market to grow from US$ billion to US$100 billion in the next 10 years. Who will benefit from this market, and how does it serve the challenge for global sustainable agriculture and food security? The EU, US and Japan represent the major markets. Multinational companies have entered the field: Nestle and Sandoz reportedly have organic subsidiaries; McDonalds is serving organic milk in Sweden; Swiss Air is serving organic meals in flight.

Many organic conversions in developing countries are driven by export premiums to serve these markets. On one hand there is unsafe food, on the other a shrinking number of farms. At a time when agriculture produces more per capita, over 80 million people in the world are hungry today.

Ironically, it is the food producers-farmers, fisher folk and indigenous people-getting pushed out of productive work and land, who are made hungry. The world’s food bowls, consisting mainly of smallholdings in Asia and elsewhere, are undoubtedly threatened under the global trade regime represented by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Is this our fight? Can a holistic production system thrive without a holistic trading system and social fabric?

The organic movement is founded on three major premises: to balance the ecological order, the economic order and the social order.

ONE OF MANY CHALLENGES.

The situation undoubtedly is exacerbated by a tilted playing field. Externalized environmental, health and social costs make a conventional farming seemingly cheaper than organic farming. Principles regarding who should pay have been debated, but with no consensus. Northern governments are amenable to environmental and social criteria to protect their agricultural sectors.

Southern governments (exporters) worry about additional production costs and generally are against added standards that may affect their “competitive” edge. Criteria for production and processing methods are also currently viewed as trade restrictions by the WTO.

WALKING THE TALK.

With low policy and financial support from the government, the organic sector has to draw on market support for development. This implies garnering consumer acceptance and participation on a different understanding pf price. Widespread public sympathy is unlikely if the organic sector cannot demonstrate a different kind of trade behavior.

We cannot get others to come along if we ourselves don’t walk the talk. In the long term, neither political support nor interventions such as price controls and subsidies are a panacea for the challenges the agricultural sector faces as long as social dimensions are not reflected in trade. For example, Korean rice farmers are asking for 20% increase in the government’s buying price. A 20% increase will make Korean rice three times as expensive as imported rice. Even if the government agrees to such increase.

Its total outlay is capped by WTO obligations. This means there will be an increase in farm bankruptcies, in any case. Can the organic sector offer what the conventional sector will not? We would like to believe that it is possible to establish fair and stable prices through associative partnerships based on equitable profit sharing and transparent business ethics and norms; in other words, Doing Business with a Heart.

dikit aja yah infonya, kalo kebanyakan ntar mblenger. ato kalo masih penasaran bisa cari ndiri aja. ato kalo mau cari bareng2 juga boleeeeh…