| The evaluation of agricultural research in Indonesia begins with a discussion of the history of agricultural research in Indonesia, the policy environment in the country, and the conduct of rice research since 1969. The suitability of Indonesia's allocation of resources to research for various commodities is studied by examining expenditures for various agricultural commodities from 1974 to 1978 and comparing them with the expenditures that would be suggested by the congruence criterion. It is concluded that animals research has received more budget support than is appropriate while food crops research has received too little. Allocations for crops within the food crops group seem appropriate.Rice research is modeled with rice total productivity being represented as the result of several factors: farmer participation in extension (Bimas) programs, land quality, literacy, and research within a province and in adjacent provinces for both bunded and non-bunded rice. A flexible functional form (translog) was chosen to represent this process. It is concluded that, except for research for non-bunded rice, all these factors increase rice productivity. The results for non-bunded rice research, both own and adjacent provinces, are not clear. All factors exhibit decreasing marginal returns. Another interesting finding is that rice research and extension behave as substitutes for each other rather than as complements. The rate of return to investment in rice research from 1965 to 1977 is estimated at about 151%.Output, inputs and prices are estimated for rice production in 23 provinces in Indonesia between 1972 and 1977. From this a total productivity index for rice is estimated using a factor share weighted chained index. It is found that total productivity increases have been impressive but irregular, both across provinces and over time. |
