Farmers get compensation from Supertoy supplier

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 09/13/2008 10:20 AM | National

Farmers in Purworejo regency, Central Java, who had experienced harvest failures for planting problematic Supertoy HL-2 rice seeds, received compensation from the seed producer on Saturday, Antara news agency reported.

Farmers gathered at Grabag village head office in Purworejo to get the compensation from PT Sarana Harapan Indonesia (SHI), the developer of Supertoy seeds.

According to farming consultant who had advised farmers in Purworejo, Bustanuddin, SHI had prepared compensation money totaling Rp 1.65 billion for 427 farmers in Purworejo who planted Supertoy.

SHI earlier promised farmers that they would be able to harvest their Supertoy rice three times, with the first harvest reaching up to 44 tons per hectare.

In reality, according Bustanuddin, farmers got only 3.5 tons per hectare in the first harvest, and got almost nothing in the second harvest, leading to angry farmers setting fire to their rice fields in protest against the company. They threatened to sue if the firm refused to pay them for damages incurred.

Bustanuddin said that the compensation money was handed over by Purworejo regent Kelik Sumrahadi himself to Grabag village head Gandung Sumriyadi.

Gandung said the compensation payment would be completed today. "Farmers will get the full amount, no single cent is taken."

Supertoy HL-2, which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself touted, is now drawing controversy as it might be the latest hoax to plague the presidential office since the Blue Energy alternative fuel scandal earlier this year.

Since 2006, SHI had been developing the Supertoy strain which was invented by Supriyadi, known as Toyong, a villager from Sanden in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta. The company began to plant the seeds on Dec. 12 last year.

The company is partly owned by Yudhoyono's special advisor Heru Lelono, who also led the pie-in-the-sky Blue Energy project launched by Yudhoyono last year, which later turned out to be a hoax. HL in the Supertoy HL-2 stands for Heru Lelono. (rid)