Training improves farmers’ soil fertility management. Including soil testing may make it more sustainable. Since the 1960s, Indonesian rice farmers have widely adopted “Green Revolution” type techniques to achieve rapid productivity increases. However, the extensive use of such techniques, specifically the overapplication of chemical fertilizers, has induced environmental costs. These costs include degraded water quality, reduced soil quality and biodiversity loss. According to the National Development Planning Agency BAPPENAS (2014), the overapplication of Nitrogen-rich fertilizers has caused widespread deterioration of agricultural land. Providing farmers with information about soil nutrient principles, balanced fertilizer application recommendations, along with the provision of low-cost rapid soil tests can increase farmers’ ability to manage their soils in a more sustainable way and hence mitigate further soil degradation.
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