Agricultural Export Value Target For 2023 is Too High

Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo invited the public to increase exports. He hopes that the export value can reach IDR 1,000 trillion this year. However, economists assess the target is relatively high and difficult to achieve.

Reported by nasional.kontan.co.id, Economist from Indonesian Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Yusuf Rendy Manilet gave his opinion. According to him, the IDR 1,000 trillion target for 2023 is difficult to achieve. He measured this based on the growth pattern of agricultural exports in the last 3 years.

“Assuming export growth in the agricultural sector ranges from 30% to 35%. So by the end of 2023 the value of agricultural exports should be at IDR 700 trillion to IDR 800 trillion,” he explained (16/03.2023).

Yusuf said that there were a number of things the government had to do, before setting a target of IDR 1,000 trillion. According to Yusuf, the agricultural sector still has several fundamental problems that need to be resolved. One of them is the welfare of farm workers.

“Besides that, there are also problems with productivity, land, and the problem of expensive fertilizers. These are some of the problems that are often faced by domestic farmers or farm workers,” he added.

Yusuf also said that this fundamental problem should be a priority and should not be forgotten. The government needs to increase the productivity or performance of the agricultural sector.

For information, exports of the agricultural sector continued to increase from 2019 which was recorded at IDR 390.16 trillion. In 2022, this figure will increase to IDR 658.18 trillion.