This article presents the farming experience of Pak Yanto, a "rebellious" farmer from
Indonesia who has learned to distill the valuable lessons from all the different
technology packages that have passed by his farm gate over the years. The Farmer Field
School of Yayasan Mitra Tani, a local NGO, has helped him systematize his judgement.
Pak Yanto’s experience in learning and trusting his own judgement turned out to be the
key to improving the ecological and economical sustainability of his farm.
Under the smoke of the Merapi volcano, some 40 km north of Yogyakarta, Indonesia,
the livelihood of thousands of farm families is provided by growing rice throughout the
year. Wetland rice cultivation here is supported by the fertile volcanic soils on the lower
slopes of the Merapi and there is always a sufficient water supply from uphill.
In Gadingsari, one of the hamlets of the village of Mangunsari, only seven of the one
hundred families own land. The land of these seven landlords is cultivated by the other
ninety-three families, either on a sharecropping or a rental basis. Traditionally, the
sharecropping agreement in Gadingsari allowed the farmer to keep only one-third of the
harvest. The rest had to be given to the landlord. All cultivation costs were borne by the
landlord.
However, from the time that one farmer refused to cultivate under such conditions,
forcing his landlord to accept a fifty-fifty agreement with the farmer bearing all
cultivation cost, more and more farmers are making a better deal from sharecropping
the fertile rice lands. This rebellious farmer was Pak Yanto, a full-time sharecropping
farmer.
Simple but sure
Pak Yanto moved to Gadingsari when he married in 1972 at 23 years of age. He
originally came from a dryland area with very infertile soil, where he received eight
years of formal education and worked on the farm of his parents. Cultivation practices
on his parents’ farm were quite different from what he would face in Gadingsari.
But there was one practice that he immediately transferred from his home village: fish
cultivation, albeit from a small pond, to the paddyfield. When he joined his wife’s family,
who were sharecroppers on an 0.4ha piece of land, rice farming in the area was in the
midst of a transition from traditional to Green Revolution practices, introduced through
the BIMAS ("Bimbingan Massal" or mass guidance) intensification programme.
Before converting to Green Revolution practices, Pak Yanto’s parents-in-law grew local
rice varieties, such as Kenongo and Rojolele, as did all the other farmers in Gadingsari.
LEISA Page 1 of 7
The long growth period of 4.5 to 6 months only allowed two crops per year. Nutrients
were supplied to the soil through organic manure and natural recovery by allowing
enough time for the crop remains left on the field to decompose.
Labour for soil preparation, planting, weeding and harvesting relied completely on the
mutual cooperation of all farm family members in a certain area. No wages were paid.
Yields achieved were around 2 t/ha. Yield loss due to pest damage hardly ever occurred
since the agro-ecosystem was diverse, hosting a wealth of natural enemies. Profitability
was low due to low yields and the big share that had to be given to the landlord.
Higher yields but lower profits
The Green Revolution package, introduced through the BIMAS programme, included high
yielding varieties (HYV, such as the locally improved variety Cisedane and the IRRI
varieties IR 36 and IR 48), chemical nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers (urea and
DSP/TSP), pesticides and credit. Although the technology package was imposed upon
rice farmers in the greater part of Java, the village government of Gadingsari remained
quite tolerant towards the cultivation of local varieties during certain seasons.
Many farmers continued growing local varieties once a year, since there was still a good
market for the high quality, aromatic rice. Additionally, the varieties performed well
under the local conditions, and even better after small dosages of chemical fertilisers
were applied. Yields of both local and high-yielding varieties increased to 4-6 t/ha, which
became more tangible now that five cropping seasons every two years could be
achieved.
During the first years after he moved to Gadingsari, Pak Yanto helped on the fields
cultivated by his wife’s family, but was allocated 0.14 ha in 1976 for himself and his wife
to cultivate under the prevailing one-third sharecropping agreement. Later he acquired
two more fields of 0.20 and 0.09 ha respectively, and was given responsibility for 0.16
ha of the field of his parents-in-law.
With a total of 0.59 ha of land to cultivate, Pak Yanto represents the average farmer in
Central Java. Following the custom in his home village of providing the family’s fish
consumption, he experimented with rearing fish in the paddyfield, in which he succeeded
fairly well. Following the trend of the Green Revolution, he applied chemical fertilisers,
whatever and whenever provided by the landlords, using pesticides only when there was
no fish in the field. He continued to apply cow dung to his fields, though the amount
supplied by the one family cow was not enough to maintain a high level of soil fertility.
Like most farmers, Pak Yanto’s rice yields increased, but apparently his net income did
not. Due to the changes brought about by the new technologies, labour was no longer
considered a mutually exchangeable good, but something you had to pay for, either in
money or in kind. Although Pak Yanto was not initially aware of this, apparently the
investment he had to make in wages for the labourers was often equal to (or even more
than) the value of the one-third share of the harvest he obtained.
LEISA Page 2 of 7
More inputs but still no profits
In the second half of the eighties, when chemical fertiliser supply had become more
reliable, a new intensification programme was launched called INSUS ("Intensifikasi
Khusus" or special intensification). In contrast to the BIMAS programme, which had used
an individual and voluntary approach, and which was not considered to be effective
enough, INSUS was organised through farmer groups appointed from above to
participate by adopting the technology package. Gadingsari was selected to participate
during two consecutive seasons in 1987-88.
It was during this period that the negative effects of Green Revolution technologies
became visible through severe brown planthopper outbreaks all over Java. The
government recognised that this was a pesticide-induced pest, and banned 57 broadspectrum pesticides in November 1986. It launched an intensive programme to control
the brown planthopper. Measures included the requirement for all farmers to plant
brown planthopper resistant varieties (IR 36 and IR 48, and no local varieties or
Cisedane, the popular varieties in Gadingsari), and the assignment of spraying teams to
apply the pesticide Applaud (buprofezin), using mistblowers on affected crops.
Pak Yanto became a member of the spraying team in Gadingsari. Previously he had
often sprayed the fields of other farmers as a labourer and had applied pesticides on his
own field whenever he had observed suspicious insects on the crop and there was no
fish in the field. During one of these Applaud spraying sessions, Pak Yanto experienced
poisoning symptoms. For some time, he had no control over his facial muscles and his
eyesight became blurred. It was at this moment that he decided never to touch
pesticides again.
During this period, when only high-yielding, brown planthopper resistant varieties were
allowed, Pak Yanto obtained a higher level of production, mainly as a result of the three
growing seasons per year possible. But since market prices of the high-yielding varieties
were much lower than those of the local varieties, and gross income remained only onethird of the total harvest, Pak Yanto’s net income was still insignificant.
Fish provides a solution
After the INSUS programme moved on to another area and fear for the brown
planthopper had vanished, several farmers in Gadingsari, including Pak Yanto, went
back to the previous pattern of planting local rice varieties once a year. This period
coincided with the establishment of a rice-fish-cultivators cooperative in the village of
Mangunsari, which was initiated and facilitated by Yayasan Mitra Tani, a local NGO active
in the field of rural development. The cooperative set up a marketing system for
fingerlings in the village, which soon became a centre for fish trade in the area.
The availability of a well run marketing system nearby greatly favoured the
intensification of Pak Yanto’s fish culture. Whereas his previous efforts to grow fish in
the rice field mainly served a subsistence purpose, the rearing of fingerlings for cash
soon became his main source of income, since the fish income did not have to be shared
LEISA Page 3 of 7
with the landlord. In addition, calculations made by members of the cooperative showed
that three harvests of fingerlings during one rice season yielded a net income almost
twice as much as the rice before submitting the share to the landlord.
Ecological sustainability
In the course of 1993, rice crops in Gadingsari and neighbouring hamlets were severely
attacked by rats. An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) farmer field school focusing on
rat control was organised in the village by Yayasan Mitra Tani. The small group of
participants tried to organise the community on mass eradication of the rats. However, it
was felt that more intensive IPM training was needed to get more people actively
involved. More intensive training would require trainers with a sufficient level of
knowledge about the problems of the area.
Farmers who had been active in the first IPM field school, and who happened to be for
the greater part members of the fish cooperative, were considered to be the best
candidates for a training-of-trainers, which was implemented from May to October 1994.
Pak Yanto was one of the eight trainees.
Although the training was called an IPM field school, the scope of the training was wider,
and aimed to provide opportunities for the farmers to become better farm managers in
general. The participant farmers, for instance, learned to keep daily records of all
farming practices and expenses. These records indicated that growing local varieties,
despite the long growth duration, was more profitable under the prevailing conditions
than the high-yielding varieties, due to lower cultivation costs and higher market prices.
In addition, local varieties were more resistant to pests and diseases, and they were
tastier. The farmers also learned how to design, implement and evaluate a reliable
experiment. By conducting a fertiliser experiment during the training, they proved for
themselves that current fertiliser doses were probably far too high, implying a waste of
money and a danger of environmental pollution.
In addition, they learned that smaller doses of fertiliser were more efficient when applied
in two gifts rather than one, at times when the rice plants actually needed it. Pak Yanto
immediately put to use all that he had learned during the IPM field school for trainers.
He managed to reduce chemical fertiliser doses on his high-yielding rice varieties by
25%. Instead of spraying, which he had stopped because of the danger of poisoning, he
began to purposely conserve the natural enemies in his field. And most valuable of all,
he began facilitating IPM field schools for other farmers in Gadingsari and surrounding
hamlets.
By implementing the principles of IPM on the total set of farming practices, Pak Yanto
felt he was developing an increasingly sound and ecologically sustainable way of
farming.
Economic sustainability
LEISA Page 4 of 7
By keeping daily farm records for several seasons in a row, Pak Yanto became aware
that he could never achieve an economically sustainable farming system under the
current sharecropping agreement. His records indicated that all the income from his
one-third share of the harvest was spent on cultivation costs.
With these hard data in hand, he decided to face the landlord and frankly refuse to
continue working under this agreement. He suggested a 50-50 share of the harvest,
with all costs being borne by himself. The landlord could do nothing but agree. Of the
four fields that Pak Yanto is presently cultivating, only the smallest one is under the old
sharecropping agreement. Pak Yanto’s move resulted in many more farmers requiring
the same agreement from their landlords. Rice farming has only now become somewhat
more attractive again for sharecroppers.
A second event favouring economic sustainability was a group of farmers organising to
market their local rice under a 'pesticide-free' product label, through channels such as a
health food store in the nearby town, and hotels and banks, etc. Channelling the rice is
partly facilitated by Yayasan Mitra Tani. The farmers themselves determine the price, as
high as Rp 1550/kg of polished local rice (compared to Rp 750/kg for ordinary rice, see
Table 2). The organisation of marketing, although requiring extra effort, contacts and
skills, guarantees a fair price to Pak Yanto and his colleagues, who the produce the
special product.
Integrating experiences
Pak Yanto is sure that the farming system he has developed so far, is the best he has
ever had, both from an ecological and an economic perspective. Nevertheless, he still
wants to improve. Step by step, he is cutting down on chemical fertilisers and trying to
increase the level of organic matter in the soil. He knows that the three sheep and 15
chickens he keeps at the moment, do not produce enough manure to fertilise all his
fields sufficiently. But as soon as he can afford it, he will buy organic manure from
outside. He realises that the practice of his parents to leave the soil fallow for some time
in between crops, served an important purpose. He is planning to integrate this practise
again into his farming system, which will only allow him to grow two crops per year. But
he is sure that he will then get better yields for lower costs and thereby increase the
level of sustainability of his farm.
Elske van de Fliert, Faculty of Environmental Biology, Duta Wacana Christian
University, Yogyakarta, Jln Bali 11, Widoro Baru, Ngropoh CC, Yogyakarta 55283,
Indonesia.
Wiyanto, Yayasan Mitra Tani, PO Box 6479, YKGK 55221 A Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Experience and experimentation - How farmers learn and develop sustainable
practices. CAHYO Media Production for Community Development / IAC Wageningen,
Netherlands. Duration: 23 minutes. Price: VHS/PAL, including postage outside
Indonesia: US $ 25; within Indonesia Rp. 40,000; VHS/NTSC, including postage
LEISA Page 5 of 7
Table 1: Six phases in Pak Yanto’s farming history. (The pluses indicate relative levels of
parameters compared.)
Table 2: Comparison of profitability between local and high-yielding varieties in
Gadingsari (US $ 1.- = Rp. 2.300)
outside Indonesia: US $ 28; within Indonesia Rp. 47,000.
This film is part of the training module "Extension Development for Integrated Pest
Management." It demonstrates the process and application of the farmer field school
as a model for extension for sustainable agriculture, in general, and Integrated Pest
Management, in particular. The setting of the film is wetland agriculture in Indonesia.
It involves crops like rice, hot pepper and potatoes. For a large part, the video deals
with the farmer field school of Pak Yanto.
To be ordered from: CAHYO Media Production for Community Development, Jl. Bali
11, Yogyakarta 55283, INDONESIA. Phone/Fax: +62-274-517201. Email:
elske@yogya.wasantara.net.id. (make a bank transfer to: Post Bank Netherlands,
account no 7466078 of CAHYO Media Production for Community Development,
Yogyakarta, Indonesia).