Problems of Agriculture in Indonesia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2844299
AutoresEsther De Vries (0000-0002-5560-2258, autor de correspondencia)
Año1949
Volumen22
Número2
Páginas130
Fecha de publicación1949-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPacific Affairs (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0030-851X • E-ISSN: 1715-3379
EditorialJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2751591
OpenAlexW2326693776
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4

IN few countries did the recent war have a more devastating effect on agriculture than in Indonesia. For seventy years before the war the Dutch had maintained a careful balance between the interests of agriculture for domestic consumption and of that for export. While the production of food (with the exception of sugar, fats and starches for export) remained in the hands of Indonesian farmers exclusively, export commodities were grown by both estates and peasants. When the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942, agriculture formed the backbone of the islands' economy and in many respects offered a striking example of harmonious interaction among a fertile soil, a tropical climate, an industrious population, and imported science, management and capital. The war and the impact of subsequent political disturbances destroyed this peaceful relationship. Managers and skilled laborers on estates were abducted, interned, killed or evacuated; gardens, irrigation equipment, machinery and roads were neglected; and a totally new political framework was constructed. Yet the task of agriculture in Indonesia has not changed: it must still feed the country while providing seventy per cent of the value of all exports and an even larger percentage of the national income

Agricultural economics · Agricultural science · Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Business · Economics · Geography · Agricultural Research and Practices · Asian Studies and History · Environmental Science · Livestock Farming and Management