AGUS HERMAWAN 1,3 , SHAHBAZ MUSHTAQ 1,2 , MOHSIN HAFEEZ 1

1. Table 1. Distribution and land size of hilly-mountainous area in Indonesia. Type A: spread;y distributed; Tipe B: continuous with almost clear border Type C: continuous with very clear border m asl: meters above sea level Source: Agriculture land resource statistics (Soil and Agroclimate Research Centre, 1997) Reappraisal of Land and Water Conservation Farming in Slope Upland Areas for Sustainable Agriculture in Indonesia AGUS HERMAWAN1,3, SHAHBAZ MUSHTAQ1,2, MOHSIN HAFEEZ1 1International Centre of Water for Food Security, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia 2Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld, Australia 3Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technologies, Central Java, Indonesia • Facts: • About 45 percent of Indonesian land located on slope and hilly areas with elevation ranged from 350 to 1500 meter above sea level. • The huge rainfall volume (>1500 mm/year) in several months. • Population growth forces farmers to cultivate in steep slope upland by replacing native vegetation to annual crops with less soil conservation consideration. • Results: • land slides and soil erosion in the upland areas  critical/marginal land, Marginal upland increasing rate: 400.000 hectares per year • 80 watersheds were in critical condition due to erosion and 36 out of which were in priorities rank (11 in Java island) • upland productivity and economic viability tends to decrease • poverty of upland farmers • negative externality: sedimentation in rivers, dams and water canals system caused severe flood in rainy and drought in dry seasons  reducing lowland agricultural production. • Roots of upland problems: • Less priority of upland development programs (compare to wetland), centralized and sectoral approach of government policies in the past, • High erosion potency in upland (high intensity of rainfall, steep land, non-proper cropping pattern) • Low productivity and small size of land ownership (0.3 - 2 hectares per farmer)  lack of capital and less farmers motivation • Extensions were inhibited by socio culture, infrastructure, and subsistence farming orientation • Need to develop land and water conservation farming to avoid land degradation and the lost of productive land, as well as to increase farmers welfare • Conservation farming system: integration of agriculture farming and conservation activities in upland area (hilly/mountainous) • Considerations : • sources of critical land problems • critical land status • soil characteristics and erodibility level • climate • socio economic status • Problems of conservation farming: low adoption rate (example: adoption rate of bench terrace: 33%). • Integrated watershed management/IWM  promising : a comprehensive approach, multi-resource management planning process in which link all stakeholders hand in hand: • negotiate and define their interests, • set priorities, • evaluate alternatives, • Implement , • monitor outcomes International Centre of Water for Food SecurityCharles Sturt UniversityLocked Bag 588, Building 24 Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650  Australia Ph: +612-6933 2989 Fax: +612-6933 2647 Contact: Dr. Mohsin HafeezDirector, IC WaterPh: (+612) 6933 2542 E-mail: mhafeez@csu.edu.au Dr. Shahbaz MushtaqResearch FellowPh: (+617) 4631 2019 E-mail: mushtaqs@usq.edu.au http://www.icwater.org