View article

With rapid development of Indonesia’s agricultural sector in response to market pressures, homegardens and other traditional forms of agriculture are increasingly being transformed into income-generating enterprises through the introduction of cash crops. We examined the impact of this commercialization on the structure and function of homegardens in the upland area of the Citarum watershed, West Java, Indonesia, and analyzed the ecological, social, and economic implications of these changes. Results of a vegetation survey and a survey of 94 respondents indicated plant diversity in commercialized (intensively managed) homegardens decreased owing to the introduction of commercial crops. The change from subsistence to commercial farming was accompanied by decreased plant diversity, higher risks, higher external input use, increased instability, and reduced social equitability. The needs and …