Improving techniques, building brands
The technical missions are also eager to share Taiwan’s agricultural production and marketing methods through the assistance program. In Taiwan since 1952 farmers’ associations have been teaching new cultivation techniques and have established comprehensive training programs, which became a model for agricultural production and marketing organizations. Over the 60 years since then these have come to provide a foundation for Taiwan’s agricultural industry. Under government guidance, Indonesia has also established many local and regional production and marketing teams, but they suffer from a lack of expertise in both the division of labor and organizational structure.
Moh explains that the Indonesian production and marketing organizations lack the institutional support of those in Taiwan. In Indonesia they make little attempt to coordinate their actions, compete with one another, and suffer from a lack of solidarity. The lack of diversified sales networks also results in the leaders of production teams acting as middlemen, directly purchasing crops from farmers. “In this model, crops often fail to fetch proper prices,” Moh says.
Under the guidance of the ICDF, one agricultural cooperative increased market visibility by establishing a brand name for its produce, marketing it under the name BAVAS, a combination of “Bandung” and “vegetables.” “The branding process results in higher prices for agricultural products,” Moh says.
With Indonesia’s economy growing at annual rates of at least 5‡6%, demand for safe, quality produce is increasing among the country’s growing middle class. And since Indonesia’s food safety inspection mechanisms are not yet fully established, an ICDF label is used to reassure consumers about the quality of local fruits and vegetables.
The trial establishment of a produce distribution facility has also given local agricultural enterprises a leg up. In 2016, with the aid of the Taiwan Technical Mission in Indonesia, the distribution center was established at the LNATC. The spacious, well-lit facility is equipped for the refrigeration, sorting, grading, washing, packaging, storage and shipment of produce. Such a facility is rare in Indonesia, where most produce is still prepared for market by family enterprises using basic techniques. “In the future farmers will be able to increase the value of their crops by using the center’s advanced techniques for preparing the goods for market,” Moh says.
The facility also includes four large “smart greenhouses,” examples of Taiwan’s advanced automated agricultural techniques. Pan Po Yuan, a specialist at the ICDF’s Bandung work station, explains that the sprinklers and sunlight levels in the greenhouses are self-regulating. Data on temperature, humidity and airflow are also processed by computers that can quickly adjust conditions in the greenhouses.
Although most Indonesian farmers can’t as yet afford smart greenhouses, the facilities nonetheless demonstrate the potential of automation. Just as in Taiwan, the Indonesian agricultural sector is facing a shortage of younger workers willing to take up the arduous work. “Automated greenhouse techniques demonstrate to local farmers the benefits of applying advanced technology to traditional farms,” Moh says.
Automated greenhouses also provide market opportunities for Taiwanese sellers of agriculture-related equipment and materials. Pan points out that bamboo and other low-cost materials are commonly used in Indonesia for the construction of greenhouses.
“If adapted to local climatic conditions, modular building materials offer real possibilities,” Pan says.
Local farmers can modify their facilities as they see fit to meet farming requirements. “Having become familiar with Taiwan’s automated technologies, farmers will be eager to purchase such technologies once they have sufficient capital, and Taiwanese equipment will likely be their first choice,” Moh says.
There is a precedent for this type of agricultural technical assistance in Indonesia, in an earlier initiative also focusing on seed and seedling production, arable land management and post-harvest marketing operations. In 2011 an ICDF technical mission in conjunction with Indonesia’s Bogor Agriculture University established the Bogor Agribusiness Development Center to enhance farmers’ incomes through specialized cultivation techniques and marketing concepts.
Aside from enhancing the expertise of farmers and addressing post-harvest distribution problems, the Bogor project also helped local farmers cultivate tomatoes, sweet peppers, potatoes, and other high-value fruits and vegetables popular in Asia. After test plantings of crystal guavas, for example, the fruit quickly appeared in supermarkets. Taiwanese entrepreneurs in Indonesia subsequently planted orchards covering ten hectares, which can produce about 100 tons of the fruit per month.
Training courses at the ICDF’s Bandung work station teach local farmers advanced farming techniques.