A drawback of the intensification of rice production has been negative externalities
associated with increasing chemical use (Cleaver 1972, Byerlee 1992). These include
pest resistance and, subsequently, pest resurgence (Barbier 1989, Conway and Barbier
1990), negative human health impacts (Kishi et al. 1995, Murphy et al. 1999, Pawukir and
Mariyono 2002, Kishi 2005) and environmental contamination (Bond 1996, Pretty and Hine
2005). These externalities are the publicised justification for the Indonesian Government’s
gradual shift away from promoting chemical intensive agriculture to more environmentally
sound agricultural practices (Rolling and van de Fliert 1994), in particular, integrated pest
management (IPM).
IPM comprises a package of technologies that utilise natural predators and the careful
timing and dosage of chemical pesticides to control pests. The adoption of IPM was
one of the most important contributions to decreased use of pesticides in Indonesian rice
agriculture. An IPM programme was established to disseminate knowledge of IPM to
farmers, using the ‘learning by doing’ method through sending farmers to farmer’s field
schools (FFS) (Feder et al. 2004a). A major stimulant for the widespread dissemination of
IPM technology was the prohibition of 57 problematic pesticide brands and the removal of
subsidies on pesticides by 1990 (Untung 1996).