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The global pursuit of sustainable development has highlighted the Circular Bioeconomy (CBE) as a key framework for resilience and sustainability. CBE, which focuses on regenerating natural resources and minimizing waste, encompasses sectors like agriculture, waste management, and renewable energy. Agricultural Extension Services (AES) play a pivotal role within this paradigm, serving as conduits for disseminating knowledge, providing training, and fostering innovation in the agricultural sector. Indonesia, with its rich agricultural heritage and diverse natural resources, stands as a key player in the global agricultural landscape. However, the country faces challenges such as land degradation, deforestation, and climate change impacts, necessitating a shift toward sustainable agricultural practices. This article examines the potential of CBE in Indonesia, particularly the role of AES in its adoption. AES bridge the gap between research, policy, and implementation, equipping farmers with the necessary tools and information for transitioning to CBE models. Despite challenges such as limited awareness, technological barriers, and policy constraints, strategic interventions and collaborative efforts can pave the way for effective CBE implementation in Indonesia. Strengthening collaboration, enhancing capacity-building efforts, advocating for supportive policies, mobilizing financial resources, and fostering public awareness are key strategies in this endeavor. In conclusion, successful CBE adoption in Indonesia depends on the active involvement of AES. Through embracing CBE principles and leveraging AES capabilities, Indonesia can achieve a sustainable and prosperous future, fostering resilience, economic growth, and environmental integrity.

IntroductionAddressing the global demand for rice production necessitates innovative approaches to enhance upland rice yield in rainfed agroecosystems, considering the challenges posed by increasing population, limited land fertility, low productivity, and water availability.MethodsIn this study, our study investigated the impact of biochar and organic fertilizer on ten promising rice lines (G1 – G10) and two control (G11 – G12) cultivars under rainfed conditions. The experimental design used a split-plot design with four soil amendments as main plots, namely control, organic fertilizer, biochar, and biochar + organic fertilizer and 12 rice genotypes as subplot.ResultsThe absolute attainable yield gaps, differentiating organic and control (GAP1), biochar + organic and control (GAP2), and biochar and control (GAP3), ranged from 1.5 to 3.7 or increased of 91–580%, 0.8 to 3.5 (72–560%), and 0.6 to 2.58 tons/ha (58–472%), respectively. Notably, G2 + organic exhibited the highest positive absolute yield gap, ranging from 1.1 to 5.38 tons/ha, based on the yield gap matrix. Furthermore, genotype main effect plus genotype-environment interaction (GGE) biplot analysis identified G2 as the most promising rice line, displaying superior yield performance for cultivation in biochar and organic amended soils.DiscussionThese findings provide valuable insights for farmers, governments, and stakeholders, offering a roadmap to optimize rainfed areas for rice production, serving as practical guidance to enhance overall rice productivity in rainfed agroecosystems.

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is considered a significant horticultural crop in Indonesia and is widely consumed by the local population. It should be cultivated by more efficient water irrigation methods, such as pocket fertigation. This study aims to determine the effect of pocket fertigation-based nitrogen fertilizer treatment on the growth and yield of tomato plants. Three different treatments of fertilizers, including without chemical fertilizer as control (P0), 200 kg/ha of urea fertilizer (P1), and 200 kg/ha of ZA fertilizer (P2), are applied by utilizing pocket fertigation. The tomato plant is cultivated under 24-30oC of daily air temperature, 25.6-28.9oC of soil temperature, and 68-201 W/m² of solar radiation recorded by an automatic weather station. The results show that treatments do not significantly affectplant height, number of branches, root volume, number of fruits, fruit weight per plant, fruit color index, fruit hardness, Brix, and consumption index. However, P1 increases yield and fruit quality more efficiently, while P2effectively increases plant weight. Further research needs to regard the optimal dosage of Ureaand ZA in optimizing the yield and quality of fruits.

In response to the escalating demand for blue swimming crabs (BSC) and the consequential impact on their habitat and population, this study advocates for sustainable management through a holistic approach. Our comprehensive framework integrates ecological conservation, socioeconomic well-being, and governance principles, aiming to establish a policy framework for the sustainable management of BSC in the Eastern Coast of Lampung. The research emphasizes the urgent issue of overexploitation, with an exploitation rate of 0.71, requiring immediate attention to prevent stock depletion and maintain ecosystem health. Findings reveal that male BSC, measured by carapace width, typically reaches the length at first catch (Lc50) at approximately 118.69 mm, while for females, it is about 122.70 mm—indicating that BSC is often caught larger than the 10 cm legal requirement set by the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries of Indonesia. Economic analysis demonstrates the profitability of the blue swimming crab business on Lampung's east coast, with a favorable crab capture per trip (4.63) and total costs ratio (1.18). The study area, featuring an extensive mangrove forest, hosts a crucial crustacean population, contributing significantly to BSC's diet. Beyond ecological significance, mangrove conservation enhances our understanding of environmental sustainability, particularly in carbon stock contributions. Addressing sustainability challenges requires a multi-faceted approach, including precise fishing technologies, effective regulation enforcement, and improved monitoring. Collaborative efforts among government authorities, fishing communities, and conservation groups are essential for balancing economic interests with the long-term ecological health of BSC populations in the study area.

Achieving global food security in the face of climate change is a critical challenge, particularly in vulnerable countries like Indonesia. To effectively address this challenge, a systems-based approach utilizing climate-hydrological-crop models has emerged as an integral approach. These models integrate climate, hydrological, and crop components to understand and predict the complex interactions within agricultural systems and their responses to climate variables. By employing this approach, policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders can gain comprehensive insights into the potential consequences of climate change on crop growth, water availability, soil fertility, and overall crop yield. However, challenges exist in the implementation of this approach, including data reliability; scarcity of complete long-term data; lack of experimental information about crop species, especially local varieties; inadequate research resources; lack of expertise concerning modeling approaches; lack of testing; inaccurate testing; calibration; and model uncertainties. Furthermore, to address limitations and challenges in implementing this approach, improving the availability and reliability of data, collection method, and data quality should be conducted to ensure the accuracy of simulation and prediction. Finally, climate-hydrological-crop models, alongside improved data collection and modelling techniques, serve as essential tools for guiding the development of effective adaptation measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change on rice production in Indonesia.

The increasing global population, rapid urbanization, and climate change are putting unprecedented pressure on limited water and energy resources for food production. It requires integrated management of the key resources to achieve economic and environmental sustainability. The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus, in conjunction with circular bioeconomy (CBE) principles, offer a promising approach to achieve sustainable agriculture. It provides the integration between interconnectedness and interdependencies of the resources through closing bio-resource loops. Using bio-based materials, renewable energy resources, and implementing energy-efficient practices and technologies can maximize synergistic among the resources and promote sustainable agriculture while minimizing negative environmental impacts. However, there are challenges and limitations, such as economic conditions, proper infrastructure and technology, policy and governance support, public awareness, and potential trade-offs and conflicts. Moreover, it also faces various social and cultural challenges in implementing this approach. Therefore, to overcome these challenges and limitations, the need for innovative and sustainable technologies, significant investments in research and development, infrastructure and training, environmental campaign, innovative financing mechanisms and policies that incentivize sustainable practices, and support from stakeholders and the public are essential.

Water resource modelling has been used to analyze the sustainability of the watershed affected by human activity and natural disasters. The objective of this research was to evaluate the SWAT model and its applicability in the Keduang Sub-Watershed for streamflow prediction, which is part of Bengawan Solo Watershed. A SWAT integrated with Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS, version 10.4.1) was used to simulate Keduang Sub-Watershed streamflow for the period from 2008 to 2017. Model calibration and validation were performed for monthly and daily periods using Sequential Uncertainty Fitting 2 (SUFI-2) within SWAT-CUP using daily observed streamflow data at the catchment outlet. The results during calibration and validation periods showed that the value of the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), the coefficient of determination (R2), Percent Bias (PBIAS) and Root Mean Square (RSR) had different values for daily and monthly simulation. The calibration and validation outputs for daily and monthly simulation showed a good model performance for discharges. In the daily simulation, the value of NSE, R2, PBIAS and RSR were 0.57; 0.58; -3.4 and 0.67 for calibration periods, whereas in the validation period the values of NSE, R2, PBIAS and RSR were 0.50; 0.51; -10.7 and 0.65, respectively. The monthly simulation had better results than the daily simulation where the value of NSE, R2, PBIAS, RSR were 0.79; 0.81; -6.2 and 0.54 for calibration periods, as well as 0.73; 0.69;-1.9 and 0.71 for validation periods, respectively. Those results indicated that the SWAT model was acceptable for Keduang watershed simulation based on the model performance which was higher than the minimum standard acceptance.