Search

This study analyses technological change in Indonesian rice agriculture. An analysis of data compiled by the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics shows that rice agriculture has undergone technological progress with non-neutral technological change that has been capital and labour saving and chemical intensive. Recent agricultural policy reforms, which include the dissemination and implementation of environmentally friendly technology, however, appear to have been successful in reducing chemical use.

This study aims to analyze econometrically the impact of IPM training on farmers' economic way of thinking about pest management. The IPM training is expected to increase farmers' acceptable level of pest attack, and reduce pesticide use. The study was conducted in Java, where the training has been widely performed. Panel data on soybeans during 1990-1998 were collected from provincial agricultural agencies. Simultaneous equation models were employed to estimate a function of economic threshold and a function for pest control. Estimation was conducted using random effect panel regressions. The results indicate that pesticide use decreased as the amount of IPM training increased. This means that after participating the training, farmers' subjective economic thresholds for soybean pests increased and pesticide use was delayed.