Trop. Agr. Develop. 64（3）： 113 － 124，2020 Indonesian Permaculture: Factors Shaping Permaculture Farm Systems in Humid Tropical Indonesia Radityo Haryo PUTRO1, 2 and Rie MIYAURA1, * 1 Faculty of International Agriculture and Food Studies, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan 2 Present affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan Abstract Permaculture-based farming systems are relatively unexplored in the humid tropics. A few studies have shown that permaculture in such areas has diverse roles and contributions, but these are poorly understood. We hypothesized that the unique social needs of local people or the natural environment in the humid tropics influence how permaculture systems are shaped to operate and have roles that fit under local context. The present study sought to identify and validate these influences toward three different aspects of the permaculture farm: 1) operations, 2) management, and 3) crop diversity. Field surveys were conducted in Indonesia between 2016–2019. A total of six permaculture farms were found across the country, and four farms (one in Yogyakarta and three in Bali) were able to cooperate for the present study. Analysis of quantitative data, such as for determining crop diversity, involved using the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices. We identified that the surveyed permaculture farms’ operations, farm management, and crop diversity were shaped by fundamental permaculture principles, socioeconomic factors such as operational needs and profit-related managerial decisions, and socio-cultural factors such as the beliefs of owners and local societal needs. All permaculture farms shared structural similarities with the Indonesian home garden, ‘pekarangan’ and it is preliminarily assumed that they were based on such design. A combination of these factors shaped Indonesian permaculture systems to operate in multiple ways, with unique farm management practices, and produce diverse types of crops. Key words: Aesthetic design, Agroecology, Farm management, Plant diversity, Sustainability These studies mainly described the role of permaculture Introduction as an environmentally conscious solution for improving Permaculture is a term coined in Australia by Bruce soil conditions, mitigating external stresses, and Charles “Bill” Mollison (the “father of permaculture”) establishing food security for impoverished communities. and David Holmgren in 1978 (Mollison and Holmgren, In contrast, the few permaculture-related studies 1978). Permaculture is defined as “the conscious design conducted outside of semi-arid regions show perma- and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosys- culture having diverse roles and contributions. For tems, which have the diversity, stability, and resilience instance, permaculture can support eco-tourism and of natural ecosystems” (Mollison, 1988). Permaculture generate income (Ip-Soo-Ching and Veerapa, 2013), not only sustains but also regenerates agroecosystems while simultaneously preserving ecosystems (Alamah and is capable of improving poor soil conditions (Ayesh, et al., 2014), providing farming education (Flores, 2005; Moses et al., 2008; Rhodes, 2015; de Tombeur et 2018), and inspiring ‘green’ design ideas for housing or al., 2018). residential planning (Ali et al., 2012; Salleh et al., 2018). Previous empirical studies on permaculture In areas of the United States, permaculture has been were largely conducted in semi-arid regions of Africa shown to play a role in improving farmers’ livelihoods (Khumbane, 1996; Moses et al., 2008; Mukute, 2010; by improving farm production diversity (Ferguson and Materechera and Swanepol, 2011; Atera et al., 2013; Lovell, 2017). Conrad, 2014; Dewey et al., 2014), the Middle East The reasons why permaculture farms outside of (Ayesh, 2005), and Australia (Larsen and Barker-Reid, semi-arid regions have a wider array of roles and func- 2009; Guitart et al., 2015), where drought, unfavorable tions are poorly understood; the present study aims to soil conditions, and food security issues are common. address this question. Most of the cited permaculture studies outside of semi-arid regions are from humid Communicated by Y. Oikawa tropical areas (e.g., Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philip- Received Jan. 29, 2019 pines), and thus, a humid tropical area was selected Accepted Mar. 23, 2020 as the focus of this study. We hypothesized that either * Corresponding author [email protected] the unique social needs of local people or the natural 114 Trop. Agr. Develop. 64（3）2020 environment in the humid tropics influence how perma- Survey Methods culture systems are shaped and adapted. In the present study, we attempted to identify and clarify the factors that To identify permaculture farms in Indonesia for shape humid tropical permaculture farming systems in the study, searches were carried out through keyword regard to their 1) operations, 2) management, and 3) inputs (e.g., ‘permaculture farms’ and ‘permaculture crop diversity. Indonesia’) on two online search tools (Google Maps The Republic of Indonesia in Southeast Asia was and the QGIS Map Kit for accuracy). A total of six per- selected as an appropriate location for the study as no maculture farms were identified across the country at major empirical permaculture study has been conducted the time of the online search conducted in 2016. Four in the country, despite the fact that it represents about permaculture farms managed by different establish- 42% of the total land area in humid tropical Southeast ments were discovered through the search in December Asia (roughly 1.9 million km2 out of 4.5 million km2). 2016 and selected for further examination. These sites Furthermore, the close proximity of Indonesia to Aus- were the Bumi Langit Institute in Yogyakarta, Central tralia, where permaculture originated, also suggested Java, and the Jiwa Damai Retreat Center and Organic that there may be more identifiable permaculture sites. Garden, Moksa Plant-based Restaurant and Permacul- Indonesia’s humid tropical climate is characterized ture Garden, and IDEP Foundation in Bali (Fig. 1). The by a relative humidity ranging from 70% to 90% (Weather other two remaining permaculture farms were identified Online, 2020). This is attributed to an annual rainfall of in Bali, but owners did not agree to share information 2,000 mm and an annual constant temperature averaging publicly. 28°C (coastal plains), 26°C (inland and mountain areas), Permaculture farms in Yogyakarta and Bali are and 23°C (higher mountain regions). Most of the rainfall under the humid tropical climate, but there are subtle in Indonesia is accumulated during the rainy season, climatic differences between the two locations (Climate whereas low rainfall is commonly expected throughout Data, 2020). Yogyakarta has an annual average precipita- the dry season. tion of 2,157 mm and an average annual temperature of Fig. 1. Discovered permaculture sites ( ) in Yogyakarta (A) and Bali (B), Indonesia. ● Note: 1. Bumi Langit Institute (Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta). 2. Undisclosed permaculture farm 1* (Badung Regency, Bali). 3. Jiwa Damai Organic Garden and Retreat Center (Badung Regency, Bali). 4. Moksa Plant-based RestaurantFigure and Permaculture 1 Garden (Gianyar Regency, Bali). 5. Undisclosed permaculture farm 2* (Gianyar Regency, Bali). 6. IDEP Foundation (Gianyar Regency, Bali). *: The corresponding farm(s) did not agree to have their information shared publicly in this study. Shannon and Simpson diversity indices for Moksa (based on the March 2017 data) and IDEP Foundation (based on the April 2019 data). Diversity indices were not calculated for Bumi Langit Foundation or Jiwa Damai farms at this time due to the complexity of their farm layout and crop distribution. 5 The Shannon diversity index was calculated to ascertain farm-level crop diversity based on species richness, while the Simpson diversity index was calculated to determine crop diversity Putro and Miyaura: Factors shaping Indonesian permaculture 115 based on the population sizes of existing crop species. 26.4°C. The lowest level of rainfall occurs during August as the driest month (average of 16 mm), whereas the � highest level of rainfall occurs in January as the peak of Shannon Diversity Index �H′� � ��� ln � ��� the rainy season (average of 392 mm). In the Gianyar Regency, where most of the permaculture farms in Bali Σn�n � 1� Simpson Diversity Index �D� � 1 � are located, annual precipitation averages10 higher at For the Shannon diversity index, s Nand�N p� indicate1� spe- 2,244 mm but with lower annual temperature averagingFor the Shannoncies richnessdiversity index, and thes and proportion p indicate speciesof individual richness cultivars, and the proportion of at 25.3°C. Rainfall in the area is the lowest during August respectively. For the Simpson diversity index, n indicates individual cultivars, respectively. For the Simpson diversity index, n indicates the population size (average of 90 mm) and the highest in January (aver- the population size of a species and N indicates the total age of 325 mm). Both Yogyakarta and Bali experienceof a species and populationN indicates thesize total of populationall species size noted of all in species an area noted (Simpson, in an area (Simpson, a rainy season beginning from October to March, and 1949). Results from our study sites were compared with 1949). Results from our study sites were compared with those from