Rice field in Tasikmalaya. Photo: Dr Nathalie Luck
The move away from traditional agriculture was rapid: Indonesia's agriculture was “industrialised” in the mid-1960s in what was called the “Green Revolution”. The use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides increased yields and thus significantly reduced poverty - but with significant consequences for soils. These have lost their fertility. Residues from pesticides pollute the food and groundwater considerably and thus also the health of people.
Several initiatives in Indonesia have therefore been trying to promote sustainable farming methods for some time. However, the transition to organic farming is tough. It is still a marginal activity in the country.
Professor Michael Grimm, holder of the Chair of Development Economics at the University of Passau, and his former research assistant Dr Nathalie Luck have investigated in various projects over the past few years whether specific training and awareness-raising activities can accelerate this process. They determined whether farmers are more willing to adopt organic farming methods if they know more about them and recognise that this improves soil quality. The researchers have been following more than 1,100 smallholders in 60 villages in three different districts of Yogyakarta province and in Tasikmalaya province for six years.
From 2018 to 2023, the researchers conducted four waves of data collection. Each time, the focus was on the impact of the training courses that Indonesian experts designed and implemented together with the Passau team on site relying on treatment and control groups. Passau's expertise lies in the field of behavioural economics, i.e. the design and implementation of studies to investigate how such trainings work if rolled out over a large sample of people. Dr Luck completed her doctorate on the short-term impact of training measures in the predecessor project IndOrganic. This was based on the first data collections in 2018 and 2019, which showed that the training courses were effective. "However, we asked ourselves whether this effect also lasts longer," says Dr. Luck.
Professor Grimm and Dr Luck have now investigated this question in two further projects, which received funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). To this end, they conducted further surveys and field experiments in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The economist divided the smallholders into three groups: one received a one-day training course. The other took part in a two-day training programme that also included soil tests. The control group received no training at all. Soil tests allow to optimize the mix and timing of fertilizer application and to monitor the soil quality over time. This prevents over-fertilisation, saves costs for the farmers and protects the environment.
"These studies allow us to say something about the long-term effects and to understand adoption patterns in more detail," says Professor Grimm. One finding is that the transition to organic farming methods is not linear.
"Some start early and then stop. Others start late and still others stop in between and start again later," says Professor Grimm. To find out more about the reasons why some farmers abandon sustainable methods, Dr. Luck conducted qualitative interviews in the field. She found that there was a low point during and after the pandemic. "The no-contact rules played a role," says Luck. Some farmer organisations stopped meeting after the pandemic. As a result, the common practice of organic farming methods came to a standstill." The farmers lacked the initiative of the group," says the researcher.
However, the data collection also showed that a certain amount of knowledge was built up over time and that the use of sustainable methods increased as a result. For example, the use of organic fertiliser without manure was 17 percentage points higher in the training group than in the control group. Participation in training also reduced the use of chemical nitrogen fertiliser. When soil tests showed that organic methods improved soil quality, this motivated farmers to continue using them.
The training also had an impact on nitrogen overfertilisation. The graph above forms a staircase downwards: the group with the one-day training reduced nitrogen inputs from 159 kilograms per hectare to 143 kilograms. The group that received two days of training, which also included soil testing, reduced their nitrogen use to 132 kilograms. During the training sessions, the trainers also explained the importance of an optimum pH and that lime can be added to regulate this. The training had indeed also an impact on lime use, as shown in the figure below:
"I was surprised by the motivation and even fund with which the farmers carried out the soil tests together under the guidance of the trainers," says Dr. Luck. After all, they are anything but intuitive, more like a chemistry set. But the complexity of the application was also a barrier. Outside of the training courses, farmers were reluctant to use them on their own.
The study also showed that the impact of the training was already diminishing after one year. "To have a long-term effect, we need more measures and support from local extension workers, who should also carry out regular soil tests," concludes Luck.
A complete conversion to organic farming cannot be achieved with training alone. "But we didn't expect it to be any different, because it's not that easy," says Professor Grimm. In Indonesia, too, the regulations for certification are very strict, and the limits cannot be met if, for example, the neighbour is farming conventionally in the adjacent field. Farmers are also concerned that they will not be able to get a higher price for their organic produce.
Impressions from Indonesia. Photos: Dr Nathalie Luck
Workshops with stakeholders in Indonesia
The researchers from the University of Passau summarised the results in short policy briefs for policymakers. Together with their Indonesian partners, they also organised events in the Indonesian cities of Yogyakarta and Bogor to present the results to policymakers, multipliers from the agricultural sector and non-governmental organisations. They struck a chord with local decision-makers. "Our initiative came at the right time," says Professor Grimm. "There was a lot of interest in the training programmes. It has been possible to show that this is an relatively easy-to-implement and cost-effective measure to accelerate the transition to organic farming methods.
For the DFG and DBU-funded studies, the team from the University of Passau worked closely with renowned experts from Indonesia. Cooperation partners included the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogykarta and the Institut Pertanian Bogor.
Professor Michael Grimm
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Professor Michael Grimm has held the Chair of Development Economics of the University of Passau since 2012. He is the Director of the Passau International Centre for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies (PICAIS) and one of the Principal Investigators of the DFG Research Training Group 2720 "Digital Platform Ecosystems (DPE)". Prior to this, he held the posts of Professor of Applied Development Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Visiting Professor at Paris School of Economics and Advisor for the World Bank in Washington, D.C. (United States).
