Professor Chair Holder of IPB: Create City into Continuous Productive Landscapes
Agriculture in Indonesia is one of the key sectors of Indonesian economy. Although the share of agriculture sector contribution to the national gross domestic product has declined significantly in the last half century, today it still provides income for the majority of Indonesian households. As agricultural pursuits altered the natural landscapes; from rainforest, peat lands and swamps into arable lands, certainly it poses natural and environmental consequences. Environmental problems such as deforestation and forest and plantation fires, caused by forestry and agricultural sectors in Indonesia, continues to be a persisting problem that need to be addressed and solved. These phenomena caused a lot of problems for farmers in Indonesia, and they became a great polemic that never ended. Although in absolute numbers the agricultural workforce keeps growing, its relative share of the total Indonesian workforce has declined significantly from 55 percent in the 1980s to 45 percent in the 1990s. Overall, increased input use does not lead to a corresponding increase in staple crop yields, and thus farm income declines as population density increases. This suggests a situation where farmers in areas of high rural population density (RPD) may be stuck in place, unable to sustainably intensify in the face of rising RPD and declining farm sizes. Today, the area of agricultural land is constantly diminishing which is also followed by the decline in the number of farmers, need to be one of the focus of attention to get the best solution for Indonesia.
However, there are times when cities need a more functional spatial, Empowering the landscape to be more productive. Such innovations are currently being developed by prof. Dr. Hadi Susilo Arifin, Professor of Landscape Architecture of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), which is developing urban farming (urban agriculture). "I want the image of agriculture better, agriculture is not always rural population, not always dirty, farmers are not always poor," he said.
Prof. Hadi explained that this urban farming activity is one a multifunctional solution that can be applied across urban areas. The practice of urban agriculture can be started from the scale of the yard, mixed garden, environmental park, funeral area, abandoned land, green line of road, green line of rail corridor, riverbank, city park, interior and exterior of skyscraper, or on land Specifically reserved for modern agricultural practices. For example in high-rise buildings can be used as agricultural land by using vertical garden / vertical culture and green top garden.
Railway corridors can be a place for urban farming, The left and right spaces are used as a place for productive crops, such as vegetables or fruit trees. In addition, funeral areas that have open space can also be used for planting with fruit trees, or flowers such as frangipani, kenanga, kantil flowers respectively for the production of essential oils as to provide double benefits for the community. Urban farming practices generally choose high economic value products or commodities, fresh products that can be directly sent to supermarkets, organic products, and chemical-free pesticides. Indeed urban farming products not only from plants, but can also be livestock products and fish, both for consumption and ornamental.
The practice of urban farming, we can help the land recover by planting productive trees or other annual crops on the left and right side of the river banks. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongside the bed of a river, creek, or stream. The bank consists of the sides of the channel, between which the flow is confined. Different structures are referred to as banks in different fields of geography, as follows. Vegetation on stream banks is valuable for many more reasons than you may first think. Trees and shrubs on the banks and within the stream provide shade and shelter for aquatic and terrestrial fauna. Fish and other aquatic organisms need moderate temperatures to live and breed successfully.
Urban farming in addition to providing economic benefits for urban communities, also provides ecological benefits to improve air quality, soil and water system. The more green urban areas the more carbon dioxide (CO2) will be absorbed, thus reducing air pollution in urban areas. Rooting can stabilize the soil structure so as to avoid erosion and landslides. Plants can also store water. Not only that, the benefits of crops on urban farming practices can also conserve agricultural biodiversity. The diversity of the types of agricultural crops can be preserved, on the other hand this green open space can invite wildlife like Urban birds, insects, butterflies, squirrels, and no less important green open space farming can provide aesthetic value for the surrounding environment.
In terms of economy, the benefits caused by urban farming is the realization of work efficiency, namely smaller farms produce more per unit area than larger farmers in rural areas. For that, it needs to be supported by technology and done intensively. In addition, urban farming can also be used as a strategy to prevent expensive food. This is critical to ensure effective mainstreaming of home gardens into future biodiversity conservation and food production policies. With the biodiversity in the yard, not only can produce food for the owner of the yard, but can invite the arrival of wildlife (wild life) such as birds, various insects, butterflies, lizards, chameleons, squirrels, civets, and others. The yard landscape can be a nesting place, mating, feeding and drinking, playgrounds, or even just a stopover for the wildlife. Currently expensive agricultural products are due to unfair economic rents, which actually caused the resulted in most farmers not getting welfare. The natural life of the home gardens can benefit our physical and mental health, nurturing human beings, and support other living things as well. Home gardens also provide food and shelter for animals. This is the point where we start from ourselves to achieve balance with nature, " Prof Hadi said. (Wied)
