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In this study, we aimed to improve rice farmers’ productivity and profitability in rainfed lowlands through appropriate crop and nutrient management by closing the rice yield gap during the dry season in the rainfed lowlands of Indonesia. The Integrated Crop Management package, involving recommended practices (RP) from the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD), were compared to the farmers’ current practices at ten farmer-participatory demonstration plots across ten provinces of Indonesia in 2019. The farmers’ practices (FP) usually involved using old varieties in their remaining land and following their existing fertilizer management methods. The results indicate that improved varieties and nutrient best management practices in rice production, along with water reservoir infrastructure and information access, contribute to increasing the productivity and profitability of rice farming. The mean rice yield increased significantly with RP compared with FP by 1.9 t ha−1 (ranges between 1.476 to 2.344 t ha−1), and net returns increased, after deducting the cost of fertilizers and machinery used for irrigation supplements, by USD 656 ha−1 (ranges between USD 266.1 to 867.9 ha−1) per crop cycle. This represents an exploitable yield gap of 37%. Disaggregated by the wet climate of western Indonesia and eastern Indonesia’s dry climate, the RP increased rice productivity by 1.8 and 2.0 t ha−1, with an additional net return gain per cycle of USD 600 and 712 ha−1, respectively. These results suggest that there is considerable potential to increase the rice production output from lowland rainfed rice systems by increasing cropping intensity and productivity. Here, we lay out the potential for site-specific variety and nutrient management with appropriate crop and supplemental irrigation as an ICM package, reducing the yield gap and increasing farmers’ yield and income during the dry season in Indonesia’s rainfed-prone areas.

Dryland usage for shallot cultivation is very potential in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province Indonesia. However, its utilization is faced with various obstacles such as soil low fertility, limited water availability, and high pest and disease attacks. Currently, farmers apply flood and furrow irrigation methods for shallot cultivation in NTB Province, which may not suitable on dryland, especially on coarse texture soils. The purpose of this study was to obtain a package of water-saving technology to increase the productivity of shallots in the dryland of NTB. There were three treatments of technology packages tested laid as Randomized Block Design: A (Trichoderma sp., bio-urine liquid fertilizer, sprinkler irrigation; B (bio-urine liquid fertilizer, furrow irrigation); and C (farmer practice), involving farmer group members from planning to evaluating for the technology package that being tested. The amount of water used was measured using a water meter. The results showed that package A had achieved the highest shallot yield at 31.6 tons ha-1, which was 14% and 45% higher compared to package B and C, respectively. Package A was also able to save water irrigation for 62.1% and 95.8% compared to package B and C, respectively. Thus, sprinkler irrigation not only can increase shallot yield but also better in saving water irrigation. Penggunaan lahan kering untuk budidaya bawang merah di Nusa Tenggara Barat sangat potensial. Namun hal tersebut terkendala oleh beberapa masalah seperti rendahnya kesuburan tanah, terbatasnya air irigasi, dan tingginya gangguan hama dan penyakit. Saat ini, petani di NTB mengairi tanaman bawang merah dengan cara direndam atau leb yang belum tentu sesuai dengan kondisi lahan kering terutama pada tanah dengan tekstur berpasir. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mendapatkan paket teknologi hemat air yang dapat meningkatkan hasil dan pendapatan budidaya bawang merah di lahan kering. Ada tiga perlakuan paket teknologi yang ditata dengan rancangan acak kelompok yaitu A (Trichoderma sp., pupuk organik cair bio-urine, dan irigasi curah); B (pupuk organik cair bio-urine, dan pengairan leb), dan paket C (cara petani: pengairan leb). Penelitian ini melibatkan petani mulai dari perencanaan sampai evaluasi paket teknologi yang diujikan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa paket A menghasilkan produksi tertinggi sebesar 31,6 t ha-1, atau 14% dan 45% ebih tinggi dari paket B dan C. Paket A juga mampu menghemat air irigasi sebanyak 62,1% dan 95,8% dibandingkan dengan paket B dan C. Dengan demikian, penggunaan irigasi curah mampu meningkatkan hasil dan menghemat air irigasi.

Elephant food yam (Amorphophallus muelleri Blume) is an important tuber plant that is grown in most of the tropical countries including Indonesia and is a very profitable export commodity. Soil nutrients availability is one of the most important factors that determine the production of elephant food yam plants. However, there is no single nutrient source, either from inorganic fertilizers or organic fertilizers or biological fertilizers, which is able to meet all the nutrient needs of the plants grown. Therefore, integrated nutrient management (INM) of elephant food yam plants seems to be a way out to maintain sustainable production and increase profitability. This paper reviews the results of research on various issues of INM-based production management for elephant food yam plants and analyzes the extent of research on the use of INM both in Indonesia and abroad. The benefits of integrated nutrient management are well documented for vegetable crops. However, it is still very little available for elephant food yam plants, especially in Indonesia. Integrated nutrient management (INM) is a very important technological innovation to be applied to elephant food yam cultivation. Elephant food yam is a high nutrient consumeplant, so a wise and precise combination of inorganic and organic fertilizers as well as bio-fertilizer will result in sustainable and sinergistic use of soil nutrients of elephant foot yams. Therefore, recommendations for research need for INM of elephant food yam should be carried out in order to increase the production of it in a sustainable manner.