AUGUST 2014 SECTOR STORY Mango is Indonesia’s largest fruit crop, with a national production of 1.5M metric tons per annum. Many mango farmers have small farms and are poor or near poor. A 50 -tree farm may sound significant, but smallholder farmers who own farms of this size only make around 190.000 rupiahs net income per month. Over the past decade, national mango production (which in 2009 stood at 2.2 million MTs) has increased at an annual rate of almost five percent. This makes Indonesia almost selfsufficient in mango (importing an almost insignificant amount of between 800 to 1,100 MTs each year during the off-season months, mainly from Thailand and South Africa). Local varieties are extremely popular among Indonesians but the fruit is highly seasonal with long off-season months, resulting in market scarcity and very high prices. Conversely, during the short peak season of October to December the market is flooded with cheap mango. A clear opportunity exists to increase production during off-season months, helping farmers to take advantage of the better prices during this period. In the district of North Lombok, mangoes are sold for cash, but on an ad hoc basis, rather than being managed as a commercial crop. As in East Java, a value chain study shows that the low market price (IDR 800-IDR 1,500/kg) is a major disincentive for smallholder mango farmers to commit to their crop because they do not benefit from sales during the peak season. Photo: AIP-PRISMA/Mira Pangkey The province of NTB is one of Indonesia’s smaller mango producing areas, contributing only a fraction of the quantity produced by East Java. About 6,000 ha of its farmland is committed to mango cultivation, with an average production of 65,000 MTs per year. Mango farmers here are poorer, have fewer crops, and fewer income options than farmers in Java. They typically sell their mangoes from the tree either at or in advance of harvest time. Mangoes are only harvested once a year between the months of October to December. PRISMA helps to facilitate the availability of the technology that can help smallholder mango farmers enjoy the better prices in the off-season months. NTB has more than 3,000 mango farmers who will potentially benefit from the usage of external inputs (that is, the adoption of crop manipulation technology), designed to help deliver an early harvest and thus obtain higher prices in the market. do not generally benefit from sales. During these months, mango sells at an average price of around IDR 2,000-2,500/kg; the poorer quality fruit cannot be sold at all. Average farm incomes are very low; for example, a 50-tree farm generates around IDR 5-10 million gross income annually. At the other end of the spectrum, East Java dominates Indonesian mango production, contributing 33 percent to total annual production. Mango is a smallholder crop in Indonesia, with an average ownership of 50 trees per farmer. Farmers in East Java mostly harvest mango during the peak season, and There is clearly an opportunity for PRISMA to tap into the prospect of shifting 50 percent of total production to an earlier harvest time to enable farmers to get a better price during the off-season months. East Java has over 90,000 mango farmers who can potentially benefit from PRISMA’s intervention. The Challenges Mango farmers in East Java and NTB use few external inputs for the following reasons:  Farmers are reluctant to invest in the mango crop because prices are low in the peak season. Mango farmers in NTB (and East Java) are smallholders whose production is low, and who generally follow a low investment, low return model in the main October-December period. They are reluctant to invest in their mango trees, instead relying on a natural harvest.  Early flowering technology has not been promoted. The technology is available but needs a combination of chemical products to make it work; this has not been promoted in the market. To enable successful application and results, farmers need to be trained in the proper use of chemicals, including the relevant rate-totree size, timing, and application method. Sygenta is the only agro input company currently with a market presence in Indonesia with the combination of the products to make early flowering and fruiting happen. Vision of change PRISMA’s vision of change is that by 2018, farmers in NTB and East Java will use early flowering technology to produce a crop earlier than the usual harvest months, increasing production volume during the off-season months and extending the harvest period from three months (October-December) to five months (August-December). Smallholder farmers will thus enjoy better prices during the off-season months and increase their income. This will attract more farmers to produce off-season mangoes and increase production during this period. This vision can be achieved through:  Collectors, through collaboration with the agro-chemical companies, providing AIP-PRISMA is a multi-year program that is part of the Indonesian Government’s long term strategy to encourage economic growth. With the support of the Australian Government, the program aims to achieve a 30% increase in the net incomes of 300,000 eastern Indonesian farmers by 2017 by providing innovative solutions to increase productivity and market access. AIP-PRISMA focuses on agriculture sectors that are the main source of income for a large number of smallholder farmers and have strong growth potential in areas of East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua and West Papua. Partnering with key market stakeholders, the program help spur growth along the value chain by reducing barriers and constraints within the agriculture sector. better access to crop manipulation technology which can bring early flowering for the mango farmers, and  Agro-chemical companies providing training to improve farmers’ knowledge of and skill in using the appropriate techniques, to use the technology, and to improve the general care of their trees. The PRISMA Approach To achieve its vision, PRISMA collaborates with the private sector to develop earlyseason cultivation:  Identify the traders interested in promoting agri-chemicals (marketed by Syngenta as Cultar, Amistartop and Actara);  Promote mango learning centres for demonstration purposes and to provide information for farmers;  Demonstrate the application and impacts of the chemicals which stimulate early flowering on mango trees. Phone +62 31 842 0473 Fax +62 31 842 0461 Address Jl. Margorejo Indah Blok A-535 Surabaya 60238, Indonesia E-mail [email protected]