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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of enhanced knowledge and technology innovations, which were resulted from training, on the simultaneous production of rice and soybean in Java, Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach: A model of product possibility frontier with two outputs produced using the same resources was employed. Based on the model, supply responses of soybean and rice were derived. Aggregate data consisting of 12 regions during the ten years of 2000–2009 were compiled from relevant agricultural institutions at the provincial level. Findings: Improvement in farmers' capacity has been able to increase production of soybean and rice simultaneously. Farmers' capacity increased after completion of the school. Knowledge and skill gained from the school have been applied to both rice and soybean farming. Other economic factors also affected the supply response of both commodities. Research limitations/implications: Available data covered periods 2000–2009. However, the outcomes are still relevant to the current situation because food crops are the basic necessity. This study used secondary aggregate data, which might be less accurate than primary data. However, secondary data have the advantage concerning coverage and time span. Practical implications: The Government, in collaboration with non-government organisations and the private sectors, should continue to enhance farmers' capacity to increase the production of food crops to feed people in Indonesia, and over the world in general. Originality/value: An analysis of joint production using a concept of product transformation curve can measure the impact of training on multi products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses factors determining farmers’ intentions to move from subsistence to advanced farming. Data were compiled from a survey of 222 randomly selected farmers in three districts of central Java, Indonesia. Intensive chili farming is considered commercial, and three technologies are considered advanced. The results show many significant factors determined farmers moving toward commercial farming and adopting advanced technologies. Better access to credit and market facilities encourages farmers to grow chili. The study suggests policy recommendations for strengthening chili farming and related high-value vegetables in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse aspects of technological change in rice agriculture, related to adoption of the Green Revolution (GR) in Indonesia. Rice production is selected in this study because it plays an important role in the development of Indonesian economy. Particular attention is paid to the use of agrochemicals that has potentials of contaminating the environment. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses an econometric model to investigate the impact of different technologies and policies related to rice production. Production function technology that enables non-neutrality of input use is the underlying concept of this paper. Types of land and transformation in policies related to rice production were accounted for to determine biased technological change. National-wide data were compiled from the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics. Findings – The results show that rice agriculture underwent technological progress with biased technological change. The technological change was capital- and labour-saving, and agrochemical-augmenting. Production system in wetland led to technological change less capital- and labour-intensive, whilst the GR led to technological change more labour-saving and more agrochemical-augmenting. Research limitations/implications – This study only pays attention to environmentally detrimental inputs as a cause of externalities. This is a not full representation of real environmental consequences. In some studies on environmental degradation associated with intensive agricultural practices, however, there are other factors that can degrade the environment, such as soil erosion and soil compaction resulting from certain agricultural practices, and deforestation resulting from agricultural expansion. These are also important environmental impacts. The author expects that these factors are interesting and challenging subjects to be modelled in future research on sustainability of agricultural productivity growth, both theoretically and empirically. Practical implications – Increase in use of agrochemicals was strongly GR linked. Moving from the GR towards more environmentally friendly policy was a wise step to reach sustainable rice production. After the GR, an act that removed pesticide subsidies and disseminated environmentally friendly technology, called integrated pest management was able to reduce the intensity of agrochemical use in rice agriculture. Further actions to support environmentally friendly policy could be the use of bio-agents such as bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides. Enhancing farmers’ knowledge on the environmental issues and engaging farmers as a part of agro-ecosystem would synergise the actions. Originality/value – This study uses the concept of biased technological change, estimated econometrically using national-level data. The production function used in this analysis enables non-neutrality of agrochemical use. When the result significantly shows the agrochemical-augmenting technological change, it is a convincing evidence, not just by accident, that the GR really led to environmental problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Chilli plays an important role in the Indonesian economy through its multiplier effect. The recent rapid growth of chilli production in Indonesia can be explained by the development of agricultural and communication technologies and improved market infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to analyse factors that affect farmers’ decisions to adopt chilli-based agribusinesses. Intensive chilli farming, as a part of agricultural commercialisation, is considered a technological package that is more profitable but also more input- and labour-intensive than the production of rice or other cereal crops. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a logit model to estimate the farmers’ decision function. Personal characteristics, technical factors and business environment were hypothesised to influence farmers’ decisions to adopt intensive chilli farming. Data for this study were compiled from surveys conducted during 2009-2011. The surveys interviewed 300 farmer households in three main chilli producing regions of Java, Indonesia. Findings – The results indicate that younger farmers, and also farmers with more experience, were more likely to adopt chilli farming. Availability of chilli production technology and the use of mobile phones prompted farmers to adopt chilli farming. Access to vegetable markets, credit, and market information were other factors driving farmers’ decisions to take up chilli production. Most farmers were motivated to grow chilli to increase their incomes. Ecological factors were also the reasons. Research limitations/implications – The sample for this research is quite low. However, the sample was drawn from representative potential chilli production areas in Indonesia. Originality/value – There is room to increase the number of chilli-based agribusinesses in Indonesia. Intensive chilli farming should be introduced to young farmers and those with experience in vegetable production. Farm credit, market information, and agronomic technologies should be made more available and accessible to farmers. Strengthening communication networks among farmers through the use of mobile phones is the best way to encourage farmers to adopt intensive chilli farming. Vegetable markets should be established in potential chilli producing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perception of farmers in dealing with the phenomenon of climate change is to minimize the impact of reducing the productivity of agricultural products. Climate change which has an impact on the agricultural sector is also caused by unsustainable agricultural practices. Several studies have examined the adoption of organic farming innovations that are sustainable from an environmental aspect and increase farmer income. However, there has been no research on farmers' knowledge and perceptions of implementing organic farming as a climate change adaptation strategy. This research aims to analyze the factors that shape farmers' negative perceptions of organic farming and characteristics of the farmers. The sampling technique in this research uses a probability sampling approach with a total of 80 farmers with interviews using two languages, namely Javanese (local language) and Indonesian to make it easier to understand the research questions. This research used Second Order CFA with WarpPLS 5.0. The basic theory that is found in this study is farmers pay more attention to the attributes of innovation, observability of yields, and access to information. Farmers in Makmur Sejahtera Farmers Group are classified as laggards and late majority. The visible results from the demo plot of organic farming are lower than the results from land that applies conventional farming. Farmers prefer to use pesticides and chemical fertilizers to deal with pest explosions due to climate change. Based on the results, the adoption of organic farming for an adaptive climate change impact with a management policy was recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Productivity of Indonesian rice agriculture needs to grow substantially to ensure national food security. However, the environmental cost should be taken into account. This study aims to analyse productivity growth of rice by decomposing it into technological change, scale effects, allocative efficiency and technical efficiency. Environmental cost associated with the use of environmentally detrimental inputs is internalised to obtain environmentally adjusted productivity growth. The result indicates that total factor productivity growth is driven by technological change and social efficiency effects. Environmentally adjusted productivity growth is less than conventional productivity growth. Some policies to increase the environmentally adjusted productivity growth are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]