THE FARM-LEVEL ECONOMICS OF SOIL CONSERVATION - THE UPLANDS OF JAVA']JAVA

Examines the incentives for upland farmers on Java to adopt soil conservation packages as a means to control erosion and improve long-term land productivity and agricultural growth. The paper reviews the soil conservation "packages' currently offered to upland farmers and the factors influencing their adoption, as observed by existing farm-level studies. The appendix contains a model characterizing this behavior. Land tenure arrangements, soil characteristics, input and output prices, availability of off-farm employment, and discount rates all combined to influence acceptance or not of soil conservation. Government policies must take into account these variables if effective programs are to be designed. -from Author