Sustainable Agricultural Land Management in Garut Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia

Abstract

The high land conversion rate to other sectors has led the government to issue Law No. 41 in 2009 concerning Protection of Sustainable Agricultural Land (SAL). The study aims to identify the distribution of sustainable agricultural land uses and determine agricultural land-use changes from 2016 to 2019 and determine farmers' understanding of sustainable agricultural land control in the strategic area of Garut Regency. We overlaid the land use maps of Garut Regency in 2016 and 2019 and conducted a survey using an online questionnaire with a Google form. The research location is in five districts in Garut Regency. The results showed no land conversion in the area of existing sustainable agricultural land in Garut Regency. The total rice field area is 6,081 hectares, with about 24% is sustainable agricultural land. From 2016 to 2019, the rice field area decreased by 12 hectares. The farmers' awareness of SAL tends to be more likely aware of the sustainable agricultural land area, as many as 39% of farmers aware of sustainable agricultural land. The incentives given to farmers who control sustainable agricultural land are tax deduction, agricultural infrastructure supply, agricultural production facilities subsidies, and land certification facilities. The majority of the respondents are aware of these incentives. In conclusion, no sustainable agricultural land is converted, even though changes occur in non-sustainable agricultural land. The impact of this study is for recommendations to the government in sustainable agricultural land management.