Agricultural growth in Indonesia

The long-term impact of colonial economic policies and Western enterprise on indigenous agriculture in Indonesia has long been a matter of contention among scholars. This book provides a quantification and assessment of the broad long-term trends in agricultural production and productivity since 1880. It gives a systematic inventory of agricultural policies during these years. It discusses policies relating to irrigation works, agricultural research, extension and education, rural credit supply and cooperatives, and land tenure. It also evaluates the impact of these policies on agricultural production, in particular the two main food products (rice and cassava) and the two main export crops (sugar and rubber) in Indonesia. In addressing these issues, the book stresses the continuity in the development of both agricultural productivity and policies from the colonial era until today. It therefore provides a valuable historical back-ground to some of the issues which the rapidly changing Indonesian economy faces today.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.