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imilar to the 2009 Mining Law that stirred controversy and damaged the credibility of the government'€™s policy-making capability, the 2010 Horticulture Law, which forces foreign investors to divest controlling the ownership of seed-breeding enterprises before the end of this year, could strike at the heart of our economic development.

This is another law produced by narrow-minded politicians, misguided by ill-placed nationalism and the damage it does to the national economy.

The seed-breeding industry, which is highly knowledge-based, is key to agricultural development because high-quality seeds, besides appropriate fertilizer and pesticide, determine the productivity of crops.

We are flabbergasted to learn of the ignorance of those lawmakers who initiated the promulgation of the Horticulture Law and how pathetic the government has been by simply overlooking the poisonous provisions (articles 100 and 131) of the law on compulsory divestment within only four years. No wonder a number of farmers and the Association of Horticulture Seed Breeders have asked for a judicial review of the law at the Constitutional Court.

True, we should develop a strong national foundation for our own seed breeding industry, but this process cannot simply be decreed by forcing foreign investors to divest their controlling ownership in seed breeding enterprises.

The horticulture seed market has been controlled by foreign companies, notably those from the Netherlands and the US. But this dominant role should be credited with their centuries of experience in research and development in biotechnology and plant breeding.

We cannot transfer this body of knowledge and experience by simply forcing foreign seed breeders to sell their controlling shares to the national interest. These seed breeding companies will simply bring their research and knowledge to other ASEAN countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, which still allow foreign-majority ownership but under strict conditions on the transfer of research and biotechnology knowledge locally.

The 2010 Horticulture Law should have focused on accelerating the transfer of scientific knowledge and research capabilities to Indonesian scientists and companies. The development of a high-yield seed requires several years of research, field testing, propagation, breeding in nurseries and demonstration plots to introduce the seed to farmers who are mostly risk averse in adopting new technology.

Seed development, besides being highly knowledge-based, is also labor-intensive because the process requires many farm research stations designed to meet area-specific conditions, the training of farmers in different provinces to produce certified seeds as well as wide networks of agricultural extension services.

The participation of foreign seed breeding companies, their well-equipped research stations and experienced researchers have contributed greatly to the development of high-quality horticulture seeds in Indonesia.