Climate change and its variability are some of the most critical threats to sustainable agriculture, with potentially severe consequences on Indonesia’s agriculture, such as changes in rainfall patterns, especially the onset of the wet season and the temporal distribution of rainfall. Most Indonesian farmers receive support from agricultural extension services, and therefore, design their agricultural calendar based on personal experience without considering global climate phenomena, such as La Niña and El Niño, which difficult to interpret on a local scale. This paper describes the Integrated Cropping Calendar Information System (ICCIS) as a mechanism for adapting to climate variability. The ICCIS contains recommendations on planting time, cropping pattern, planting area, varieties, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, potential livestock feed, and crop damage due to climate extremes for rice, maize, and soybean. To accelerate the dissemination of information, the ICCIS is presented in an integrated web-based information system. The ICCIS is disseminated to extension workers and farmers by Task Force of the Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology (AIAT) located in each province. Based on the survey results, it is known that the ICCIS adoption rate is moderate to high. The AIAT must actively encourage and support the ICCIS Task Force team in each province. Concerning the technological recommendations, it is necessary to update the recommendations for varieties, fertilizer, and feed to be more compatible with local conditions. More accurate information and more intensive dissemination can enrich farmers’ knowledge, allowing for a better understanding of climate hazards and maintaining agricultural production.

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.

Kontribusi industri kakao bagi perekonomian Indonesia sangat besar. Diantaranya sebagai kontributor penerimaan devisa negara yang dapat diandalkan. Disamping itu, masih menjadi andalan dalam penyerapan tenaga kerja, terlihat menjadi sumber pendapatan bagi sekitar 1,7 juta kepala keluarga petani yang sebagian besar berada di Kawasan Timur Indonesia (KTI), juga berperan dalam mendorong pengembangan wilayah dan pengembangan agroindustri. Untuk mengoptimalkan potensi tersebut diperlukan suatu pendekatan dan desain pengembangan kakao yang tidak saja diarahkan pada upaya meningkatkan produktivitas tanaman semata, tetapi peningkatan efisiensi, nilai tambah produk, daya saing, dan kemandirian bidang industri juga harus menjadi bagian yang tidak terpisahkan dari aspek pengembangan kakao nasional. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk membahas konsep pendekatan dan desain pengembangan kawasan kakao berbasis inovasi dan upaya yang dapat dilakukan untuk meningkatkan daya saing kakao Indonesia di pasar internasional, serta memberikan rekomendasi kebijakan untuk mendukung desain pengembangan tersebut. Pengembangan Kawasan berbasis inovasi dan berdaya saing, bukan saja dalam wujud teknologi, namun sesuatu yang dapat menyebabkan perbaikan atau menjadikan lebih baik, lebih sederhana, lebih murah, dan lebih mudah. Inovasi dimaksud yakni inovasi cara/teknik/metode. Desain pengembangannya, memfokuskan pada 4 pilar: (1) mekanisme delivery teknologi; (2) sumberdaya; (3) rantai pasok; dan (4) lembaga.

Rubiana et al, 2018. The Assessment of  Insect Diversity and Community Structure in the Former Area of Coal Mining Reclamation in Muaro Jambi District, Jambi Province. JLSO 7(1): Recovery of land and ecosystems in the form of reclamation is expected to restore lost biodiversity. The success of reclamation can be seen from the recovery of ecosystems and biodiversity in it. However, the study of biodiversity on reclaimed land in Indonesia is still limited to vegetation and has not seen groups of animals especially insects. Insects have a very important functional role in the ecosystem, therefore they can be used as objects of diversity studies in the reclamation area. This study aimed to study the diversity and functional role of insects in the reclamation area. The study was conducted in the reclamation area of a former coal mine in Muaro Jambi Regency. The study area consisted of two different revegetation ages and two different plants. The method of insect collection is by installing pitfall traps with five replications for 2 x 24 hours. The insects were collected from the pitfall trap then identified to the morphospecies level. The results showed that most of the Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Othroptera insects were found in the reclamation area. Insect diversity is influenced by the age of reclamation. One year of reclamation had a lower species than insect age of two years. Based on the results of the analysis show that the composition of insect species showed differences at different reclamation ages. The older the age of reclamation, the composition of insect species tended to resemble the composition of insect species in the forest.

Geragai Agro Techno Park (ATP), Jambi Province is a pilot area to accelerate agricultural technology transfer. The ATP pilot area is built in a swampland agro-ecosystem which requires optimal land management. The purposes of this study were to identified soil chemical properties at ATP, to build partitioned canals based on hydro-topography and land characteristics, and to contribute to land management at ATP. This study was carried out using a direct survey by observing field conditions, taking and analysing soil samples, interviewing farmers, and conducting a literature study in January - December 2016. Based on the results, the soil fertility rate at ATP was in the low to the moderate category with 80 to 120 cm pyrite layer depth. Based on soil survey, hydro-topographic survey, and land characteristics, it is recommended to build partitioned canals on these lands to prevent pyrite oxidation and maintain water availability during the rainy and dry seasons. With the partitioned canal, Geragai Agro Techno Park can increase the cropping index to 300 with the rice-secondary crop-secondary crop pattern adjusted to farmer preferences.