Jakarta – Agroecology or environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural patterns can be a solution for small farmers in dealing with climate change. Farmers who own or rent less than 0.5 hectares of land are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts, analysts said, Tuesday (19/4).
“Their response capacity is relatively lower compared to large farmers. One of the efforts that can be done is education related to agroecology so that sustainable agriculture can be achieved,” said Mahra Arari Heryanto, Lecturer of the Department of Agricultural Socio-Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Padjadjaran (Unpad), in the webinar “Food Security and Climate Change” held by the Directorate General of Food Crops, Ministry of Agriculture. and the Faculty of Agriculture Unpad.
He said, based on data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), since 1981 or the last four decades, Indonesia’s average temperature has increased by 0.63 degrees Celsius. Every decade there is an increase in temperature ranging from 0.1-0.3 degrees Celsius. According to him, agriculture is actually one of the sectors that trigger climate change.
Through modernization, or intensive chemical inputs in monoculture systems, agriculture has a major impact on climate change. In reverse, climate change is also felt by the agricultural sector actors themselves, especially by small farmers which make up 50 percent of farmers in Indonesia.
Climate change impacts on agricultural productivity can be seen in the unpredictable behavior of insects. Rainy or dry seasons are prolonged or difficult to predict. These changes in weather patterns in the end disrupts agricultural production.
Director General of Food Crops of the Ministry of Agriculture, Suwandi, said that the ministry continues to cooperate with stakeholders in making breakthroughs for national food security. In an effort to anticipate the peak of the 2022 dry season, the Ministry of Agriculture encouraged among others, the water harvesting movement. Suwandi said that rainwater and run-offs are natural resources that have not been used optimally. (Hartatik)
