National Integrated Pest Management Programme Research Articles

The Rise and Demise of Integrated Pest Management in Rice in Indonesia

Indonesia’s 11-year (1989–1999) National Integrated Pest Management Program was a spectacularly successful example of wide-scale adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) principles and practice in a developing country. This program introduced the innovative Farmer Field School model of agro-ecosystem-based experiential learning, subsequently adapted to different crops and agricultural systems in countries throughout the world. Since the termination of the program in 1999, Indonesia has undergone profound changes as the country enters a new era of democratic reform. Government support for the national IPM program has wavered during this period, and pesticide producers and traders have taken advantage of the policy vacuum to mount an aggressive marketing campaign in the countryside. These factors have contributed to a reappearance of the pesticide-induced resurgent pest problems that led to the establishment of the National IPM Program in the first place.

Empire Strikes Back: The Making and Unmaking of Indonesia's National Integrated Pest Management Program

Indonesia's 11-year national integrated pest management program (IPM) (1989–1999) is considered to be one of the most successful examples of wide scale adoption of IPM principles and practice in a developing country. The program is best known for introducing the innovative farmer field school model of agroecosystem-based experiential learning, which has subsequently been disseminated and adapted to different crops and agricultural systems in countries throughout the world. In the 12 years since the termination of the program in 1999, Indonesia has undergone profound changes as the country enters a new era of democratic reform. Government support for the national IPM program—and the farmer field school model it spawned—has wavered during this period, contributing to a resurgence of the very pesticide-induced resurgent pest problems that led to its establishment in the first place. This article examines the socio-political basis and drivers of Indonesia's retreat from IPM.

An Assessment Of The Perception Of Facilitators Of Cotton Integrated Pest Management Programme In Sindh Province Of Pakistan

The purpose of this study conducted in the Sindh province of Pakistan was to assess the performance of facilitator of agriculture extension during implementation of Farmer Field School (FFS) trainings in 2001 to 2004 in the context of FAO-EU-ADB funded National Integrated Pest Management Programme (Nat-IPM) for cotton. The basic principle of Nat-IPM programme was to enable farmers to be self-sufficient, using practices that are agro-ecological friendly. A survey study was carried out in four dis-tricts of Sindh province (Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, and Mirpurkhas). The sample size com-prised of 48 facilitators who participated in Training of Facilitators (ToF) and ran FFSs. The present study revealed that despite of some constraints, facilitators performed effectively during training activi-ties that shows FFS was a favorable process for learning IPM practices with special reference to cotton crop. Results of present study a confirmation of the adoption and a validation of IPM-FFS as a success-ful extension approach in Sindh province of Pakistan. Tropical Agricultural Research and Extension 15(3): 2012: page 1-5 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tare.v15i3.5249

Implementing a national environmental policy: Understanding the ‘success’ of the 1989–1999 integrated pest management programme in Indonesia

The fact that most environmental degradation occurs in developing countries suggests the difficulties in implementing and sustaining environmental policies. In the current era of heightened environmental awareness and publicity for the impacts of climate change, where all countries are expected to take action, cases of ‘successful’ implementations of environmental policy in a developing country are instructive. This paper provides an overview of why and how the 1989–1999 national integrated pest management programme worked in Indonesia – before being terminated in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. It is seen that environmental programmes cannot be sustained without strong national political endorsement, focussed local research linked to international support, appropriate policy implementation mechanisms and demonstrated and direct benefits for local participants and communities.

Managing Tropical Rice Pests Through Conservation of Generalist Natural Enemies and Alternative Prey

The cultivation of tropical Asian rice, which may have originated 9000 yr ago, represents an agricultural ecosystem of unrivaled ecological complexity. We undertook a study of the community ecology of irrigated tropical rice fields on Java, Indonesia, as a supporting study for the Indonesian National Integrated Pest Management Programme, whose purpose is to train farmers to be better agronomists and to employ the principles of integrated pest management (IPM). Two of our study objectives, reported on here, were (1) to explore whether there exist general and consistent patterns of arthropod community dynamics related to natural or intrinsic levels of biological control, and (2) to understand how the existing levels of biological control are affected by insecticide use, as well as by large—scale habitat factors relating to differing patterns for vegetational landscapes, planting times, and the length of dry fallow periods. We performed a series of observational studies and two experimental studies. Abundant and well—distributed populations of generalist predators can be found in most early—season tropical rice fields. We took samples from plants and water surface using a vacuum—suction device, and from the subsurface using a dip net. Our results show that high populations of generalist predators are likely to be supported, in the early season, by feeding on abundant populations of detritus—feeding and plankton—feeding insects, whose populations consistently peak and decline in the first third of the season. We hypothesize that since this abundance of alternative prey gives the predator populations a "head start" on later—developing pest populations, this process should strongly suppress pest populations and generally lend stability to rice ecosystems by decoupling predator populations from a strict dependence on herbivore populations. We experimentally tested our hypothesis of trophic linkages among organic matter, detritivores and plankton feeders, and generalist predators and showed that by increasing organic matter in test plots we could boost populations of detritivores and plankton—feeders, and in turn significantly boost the abundance of generalist predators. These results hold for populations found on the plant, on the water surface, and below the water surface. We also demonstrated the link between early—season natural enemy populations and later—season pest populations by experimentally reducing early—season predator populations with insecticide applications, causing pest populations to resurge later in the season. Overall, these results demonstrate the existence of a mechanism in tropical irrigated rice systems that supports high levels of natural biological control. This mechanism depends on season—long successional processes and interactions among a wide array of species, many of which have hitherto been ignored as important elements in a rice ecosystem. Our results support a management strategy that promotes the conservation of existing natural biological control through a major reduction in insecticide use, and the corresponding increase in habitat heterogeneity.

State intervention and farmer creativity: Integrated pest management among rice farmers in Subang, West Java

The 1989 National Integrated Pest Management Program in Indonesia is a case of a breakthrough in national policy to enhance the ecological balance by conserving natural enemies and diminishing the indiscriminate use of pesticides in the protection of food crops. The Program provided training to agricultural officials and farmers to shift their perspectives in pesticide use through “knowledge transmission” rather than the transferal of “technological packages.” This paper examines how farmers, with the novel understanding they had, responded to the persisting top-down policy of the “complete credit packages” from the government rice intensification agencies and the recurrent outbreak of pests in 1990–1992. IPM knowledge and training provided initial understanding of, and the stimulus to discover, unknown phenomena on the basis of which farmers improved their knowledge and learning capacity. Constraints largely came from the inflexibility of the subsidized scheme of inputs and the inadequate explanation and extension services provided to farmers

The science of Javanese management: Organizational alignment in an Indonesian development programme

AbstractStudies of business organizations reveal the importance of combining two elements for mobilizing and aligning action in large organizations: informed decision making and contingent incentives. A national development programme in Indonesia tested both elements under exceptionally demanding conditions. The Government of Indonesia ended its subsidy of agricultural pesticides in the late 1980s, and it sought to prepare its large but poorly educated farming population in the use of ecologically based integrated pest management (IPM) methods. With a staff of 2,000 trainers by the early 1990s and a curriculum emphasizing information analysis and management decisions, the Indonesian national IPM programme created a capacity to train as many as 50,000 farmers per growing season. Field studies, trainee surveys and other evidence reveal that, consistent with national programme objectives, (1) pesticide applications were reduced by more than 60 per cent; (2) pesticide use depended more on field decisions, less on prescriptions; (3) small landholders were as likely as large holders to master IPM techniques; (4) IPM‐trained farmers experienced no loss in rice yield and significant savings in pesticide expense; (5) IPM‐trained farmers sought to share the new information and skills with other farmers. Together, informed decision making and contingent incentives provided the organizational foundation for a sustainable national change in agricultural methods.

Success and challenges of the Indonesia National Integrated Pest Management Program in the rice-based cropping system

Increasing food supplies to feed her rapidly expanding population has been prioritized in the overall agricultural development programme of Indonesia.