Is Agroecology Applicable in Indonesia?

Agricultural experts say that agricultural agroecology is the best solution to reduce global warming and reducing the use of agrochemicals. However, the pros and cons on the application of Agroecology in Indonesia isgetting higher and higher due to the lack of land owned by Indonesian farmers.

 

Considering the important of agroecology for agriculture in Indonesia, the Board of Professors (DGB) of IPB held the Studium General and invited Prof. Miguel A. Altieri of the University of California, Berkeley,the USA, as the speakers. He is a professor on Agro-ecology in the Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management (ESPM), UC, Berkeley. The event was organized in the Senate Room of IPB, on  14 June 2013, and the theme for the event was  "Who will feed us in the planet in crisis?" 

 

During which, Prof. Altieri presented one of the successful implementation of the agroecology by Pretty and Hine (2009),who has evaluated 16agroecology projects  in eight countries in Asia,  and revealed that 2.86 million households have substantially raised the total food production at 4.93 million acres of lands. With the implementation of Agroecology, I think we could become the world’s food storage and will be able to suppresse global warming, "explained Prof. Miguel in his presentation.

 

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is one the methods for rice cultivationutilizing agroecologicalapproach. This system has spread in China, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam, and has reached more than a million hectares of land with an average increase in yield of about 20-30%. SRI which have been practiced in more than 40 countries in the world, has increased yields more than 50%, reduced the use of seedlings up to 90%, and a reducte the water consumption up to 50%.

 

Meanwhile, Prof. HidayatPawitan, Professor in Geophysics and Meteorology of IPB, as one of the participants, said that the agroecological approach will be able to provide smart solutions to reduce global warming, butit  requires large farms."We  shouldthink carefully to consider whether such system will be implemented in Indonesia, as we will have lands constrains. Indonesian farmers are mostly small farmers with limited lands, "he said.(Wied).