Government policy support for technology promotion and adoption: a case study of urea tablet technology in Indonesia

Abstract

Broadcasting of prilled urea not only is technically inefficient (recovery rate is only 30% of applied N); it also causes a substantial monetary loss to farmers and a high environmental cost to society. Urea tablet deep-placement technology has shown a 25% saving in N fertilizer rates, an average increase of 400 kg ha-1 in rice yield, and a benefit-cost ratio of 4–15 in various on-station and on-farm trials in Indonesia. The technology was introduced and promoted in Java island in 1992. Hand applicators and deep-placement machines were introduced to ease the application of urea tablets. Both consumption and area coverage of urea tablets increased substantially from 1992 to 1995. Farmers recognize the economic advantage of deep placement of urea tablets, but they think that it is less practical and more labor-intensive than broadcasting of prilled urea. There are also problems of storage, distribution, and handling of urea tablets, though these can be technically overcome. Appropriate dissemination strategies and government policy support on pricing, coordination of various fertilizer industries and distributors, and credit are vital for promoting the urea tablet technology further.