Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The House of Representatives passed a key bill on Tuesday aimed at empowering the country's largely impoverished agrarian class, but the passage was overshado

Anggi M.

Tassia Sipahutar, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ambition to make the country self-sufficient in beef, among other main commodities, will likely remain out of sight, tha

Dili – An increase in new, higher-yield seed varieties is helping some rural communities produce more food in Timor-Leste, but greater support is still needed, aid agencies say.

Prodita Sabarini, Wamena, Jayawijaya – A mama walks barefoot under the skin-burning sun in a hamlet in Piramid district, Jayawijaya regency.

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) says it will soon launch a probe to determine the reasons behind a prolonged spike in beef and cattle pr

Indonesia has rejected a request for an increase in beef import quotas, an industry group said on Friday, urging the government to reconsider its beef sustainability push after prices i

Indonesians with an appetite for beef may find themselves out of luck this month, as skyrocketing meat prices have caused several vendors to close shop and go on strike.

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – The government needs to prohibit the conversion of rice fields into housing, industrial complexes or other non-agricultural activities as part of efforts

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Legislators have praised the recently passed Food Law as laying the foundation for boosting food security, but critics contend that it leaves the question of

Pitan Daslani – As Indonesia joined the rest of the United Nations to commemorate World Food Day, politicians and agricultural experts said that our country's food-security policy shoul

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The government has said that the national rice stock is enough to cover the nation's needs for the next seven months.

Arya Dipa and Slamet Susanto, Bandung/Yogyakarta – Agriculture Minister Suswono said the drought in various provinces in Indonesia had caused 23,000 hectares (ha) of 13 million ha of fa

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – The government's plan to reinstate state-owned logistics firm Bulog's role as a buffer stock agency of several basic commodities, including rice, sugar and soy

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Excessive use of imported hybrid seeds in local farming to boost rice production will affect local plant varieties and eventually lead them to extinction

Selwyn Moran – West Papua, the easternmost island under Indonesia's control, is a land beset by troubles.

Arya Dipa and Nana Rukmana, Bandung/Cirebon – Fifty-two percent of the nation's network of irrigation systems needs repair, a top agriculture official says.

Kafil Yamin, Indramayu – Another month of plying his becak in the capital city and Sarjo will be coming back to this West Java district to harvest the rice ripening on his 1,400 square

Alina Musta'idah – Indonesian farmers use an alarming amount of pesticides – including some with illegal toxic chemicals – on their crops, the People's Coalition for Food Sovereignty (K

Jakarta – A coalition of NGOs have warned that the 2012 Land Acquisition Law could lead to the massive conversion of farmland in Indonesia, reducing food production.

Lenny Tristia Tambun – A national business organization has called on the government to reconsider its beef "self-sufficiency" program, which its members say has caused a scarcity of th

Jakarta – Because the government has failed to fulfill its promise of agrarian reform, the process of rural proletarianisation continues unabated.

Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – Millions of the country's traditional fishermen have left their jobs to become motorcycle taxi drivers, street vendors or trash p

Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, Samarinda, East Kalimantan – Land issues and mine permits are threatening to scuttle a government plan to turn East Kalimantan into a center for national food

Dessy Sagita – Most Indonesians may be employed in the agricultural sector, but dwindling investment in the field and lack of government attention has led to a food crisis and widesprea

Yayat Supriatna – Indonesia is concerned about domestic white sugar supplies between March and May next year when current stocks of 740,000 tons run out and the new crushing season has

Fitri, Lombok – Siti Fatimah sat in front of a burning stove as a kettle hissed.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Traditional fishermen in Medan, North Sumatra, have complained about fish that they allege are being imported by merchants from Malaysia, Thailand, China and In

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Local tea farmers asked the government on Friday to regulate tea imports, which have reportedly begun to pressure the domestic market.

Esther Samboh, Jakarta – Lower production of Indonesian key crops this year coupled with a global rice shortage may threaten food security and boost prices, as the country counters the

Jakarta – A group of NGOs advocating agricultural issues are calling on the Agriculture Ministry to revoke its new regulation that allows cultivation of genetically modified organisms (

An NGO has criticized the Agriculture Minister's regulation No. 61/2011, which would allow transgenic seeds companies to conduct business, as it could harm greater interests.

Jakarta – The government should refrain from importing vast amounts of rice to avoid impoverishing farmers, a campaigner says.

Jakarta – Hundreds of farmers from the Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI) rallied in front of the State Palace on Saturday in observance of National Farmers Day.

Muhammad Ikhwan, Jakarta – Indonesia will commemorate the 51st National Farmers' Day on Sept. 24.

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Almost 100,000 people in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province were facing a serious food crisis, an official said on Tuesday.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – At least 72 villages in East Sumba regency in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are facing a severe food crisis that has prompted the central government to send bags of

Slamet Susanto and Panca Nugraha, Yogyakarta Mataram – With more than 100 hectares of agricultural land converted to residential use every year in Bantul regency, production of dried un

Nani Afrida – Paddy farmer Sewi, 50, spent heavily before the harvest in May to save his crops from rats and pests.

This is the second of two reports on misappropriation in agricultural development.

Nani Afrida – Free seeds, fertilizers, farming tools and financial capital, funded by taxpayer money, are up for grabs for thousands of poor farmers.

This is the first of two reports on agriculture development in Indonesia – an alleged victim of political misappropriation in many rural areas, where efforts to increase productivity

Jakarta – A group of NGOs have called on lawmakers to include principles of food sovereignty in their draft revision to the 1996 Food Law to protect local farmers.

Lenita Sulthani, Karawang, West Java – Ngadiyo, a farmer in Indonesia's West Java, worries that there won't be anyone to grow rice once he retires.

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – In the face of increasing food scarcity, Indonesia has no choice but to reduce its dependence on rice, according to nongovernmental organizations.

Jakarta – Foreign penetration through multi-national companies in the food sector is increasing and spreading.

Last week, Connect Asia ran a story about coffee farmers in East Timor, who were shocked to hear the green coffee cheries they sold to middlemen for 30 cents US went on to be sold for 2

Made Arya Kencana & Camelia Pasandaran, Denpasar – New data shows that Bali's farmers are steadily being squeezed out as agricultural lands are increasingly converted for use in the

Thousands of coffee farmers in East Timor are bracing for a lean harvest, with heavy rains taking their toll.

Joe Cochrane – An outcry is growing over the government's move to restrict imports of cattle and beef.