Makassar, July 12 -- Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman announced that his office had identified five types of fertilizers circulating in the market as counterfeit, with potential nationwide losses reaching Rp3.2 trillion (about US$197 million).

Sulaiman emphasized that farmers are the hardest hit by these fake fertilizers, as most of them purchased such products using loans from the People's Business Credit (KUR) program, putting them at risk of crop failures.

"We have recently found five types of counterfeit fertilizers that could cause losses of up to Rp3.2 trillion. However, this is not just about the money - this is about farmers at risk of losing their livelihoods, as they rely on KUR loans," he remarked in Makassar, Sout...