Is the Agriculture Sector Ready to Go Forward in the New Normal Era?

Is the Agriculture Sector Ready to Go Forward in the New Normal Era?
Pandemic covid-19 collapses the global order in various aspects of human life. The
exposure to human health that targets physical and mental conditions has a
devastating impact on the areas of life, both in the social, economic,
political and cultural dimensions. People's fear of death from this pandemic is
as great as the fear of death for not being able to meet the necessities of
life. The most economically felt is the fragility of the purchasing power of
the people which results in not meeting the standard of living needs. Of course
this has an impact on not meeting the minimum physical needs to support the
sustainability of human life.
Human instinctively have survival instincts that encourage them to do anything to get
on with life. When the sectors of life that previously provided comfort for
life, now the condition is collapsing, then there are other fields that still
provide promises to be able to support life. It is not uncommon for
agricultural activities to be the target of rescuers, at least to be able to
meet the stomach needs that must be filled. Once implied at this time, where
agriculture is again a concern and a choice to maintain life. Indeed there is
nothing wrong, and it is also good, especially if done really, not just as a
temporary escape. The problem that becomes the next question, "is the
agricultural sector ready and able to exist in the midst of the co-19 pandemic
which until now has not found a formula to deal effectively?
Various facts and data revealed that the agricultural sector was not spared also
received the adverse effects of the co-19 pandemic. Actors in agriculture are
also human, just like humans with other professions, afraid of being exposed to
Covid-19. Farming is not enough just for farmers to go down to the field in
onfarm-activity, but need support in the field of service and regulatory
arrangements (off farm). That means agricultural productivity also depends on
the relevant external factors. This factor is an obstacle for the agricultural
sector during this pandemic.
Before covid-19 pandemic, the Agriculture Agency of Bali Province predicted that the
ability of the agricultural sector in Bali could meet most of the community's
needs for the April-December 2020 period. Only two commodity items namely
shallots and garlic were less in supply than their consumption. Where the level
of availability of local onion products in Bali is 15,954 tons and the needs of
the community 18,720 tons, so that to meet the shortage of 2,766 tons must be
imported from outside the region through both imports and inter-islands.
Likewise, the commodity of garlic, local production is only 220 tons while its
needs reach 9,756 tons. There is a supply shortage of 9,536 tons which must
also be overcome by bringing it in from outside the region. As for other
commodities: rice, beef, chicken meat, chicken eggs, red cayenne pepper, and
corn on average are predicted to have a significant surplus.
Predicted production performance figures can of course change with the outbreak of co-19
and it is not impossible that the opposite will occur. This can occur in line
with the erosion of the enthusiasm of farmers to produce because of the domino
effect of the impact caused covid-19. For example, the cessation of the supply
of agricultural products to the potential market of hotels, restaurants and
catering (Horeca), the absence of farmer side income from the non-agricultural
sector which has often been used to cover the shortage of farming costs, the
quiet activity of extension workers because they follow the recommendations of
physical distancing, even though the role of extension workers is very felt as
a partner who can motivate and facilitate farmers in the production process.
Not to mention the classic obstacle that always makes the farmer to pursue his
profession, namely pest / disease disorders, crop abnormality due to climate
change, lack of irrigation water during the dry season, competition for the utilization
of water resources with the domestic and industrial sectors, and what makes
farmers not doing business is the transfer land functions continue.
In order to maintain the performance of the agricultural sector in order to be able to
continue to support people's lives in the midst of the clutches of the co-19
pandemic, then inevitably agricultural activities at the on farm and off farm
stages must adopt innovations based on information and communication technology
(ICT). Since the land preparation stage and the growth media, selection and
seedling / seedling, irrigation water management, pest control, harvesting and
post-harvesting, product marketing has offered applications that can make each
stage of the process more effective and efficient. It's just that the choice is
apparently very dependent on the behavior of the main actors in the
agricultural sector.
At present, farmers still need a lot of conditioning until finally they are ready to adapt
to the choice of innovation. But this is not too worrying, because based on
empirical experience and research findings, our farmers are quite adaptive and
responsive to technological developments. Likewise, extension workers (PPL)
accompany farmers. According to the findings of Oka Suardi and Parining (2019),
the performance of the instructor is quite good, this assessment includes: the
intensity of the instructor's response to the development of information
technology, the potential of the instructor to update counseling methods based
on information and communication technology, and the overall implementation of
the task of the instructor. In line with these conditions, to improve the
competency of instructors in the use of information and communication
technology, the first priority chosen is to carry out a series of competency
training with material substance: principles of application of information
technology, usability of information technology, examples of successful
application of information technology, deepening of information technology
practices , and facilitation and supervision of the use of information
technology. Thus the extension agents become ready to assist farmers to change
their farming behavior following the new normalcy trend.
Related to this context, technological innovations that are still relevant to be
applied by farmers need to be updated and strengthened by the implementation of
appropriate and effective information and communication technology attributes.
It is here that the Department of Agriculture and institutional stakeholders show
the role and commitment to support the performance of the agricultural sector
that is able to provide benefits to farmers and welfare for the community.