Status of agriculture resources sustainability and agricultural policy in Denpasar City, *Province of Bali, Indonesia

Abstract

Denpasar City as the capital city of Bali Province-Indonesia, is the second largest city in Eastern region of Indonesia. The rapid development of the tourism industry has made Denpasar City as the center of Bali Province's business activities. The conversion of agricultural land is still a serious problem, especially related to the development of agricultural potential in urban areas. This condition certainly requires special attention so that it does not become a threat to the sustainability of agriculture and the lives of the people of Denpasar City. One solution to maintain agricultural activities in conditions of limited agricultural area in urban areas is through a sustainable urban agricultural development approach. Urban agriculture is oriented towards the realization of the ease of fulfilling daily food needs for urban communities. In addition, the urbanization of Denpasar City is so high, thus there was a conversion of agricultural land into residential areas and other purposes to support tourism. The aim of this research was to analyses the status of agricultural resources sustainability and formulate a strategy for sustainable agricultural policy in Denpasar City. The analysis used the Rap-Ur-Agri ordinance method (Rapid Appraisal for Urban Agriculture), the Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) method and prospective analysis. The results showed that the ecological and economic dimensions were in a less sustainable status, while the social, institutional, and technological dimensions were in moderate sustainable status. Policy strategies to support the sustainability of the agricultural sector in Denpasar City include: (a) maintaining productive rice fields and arranging potential home gardens as an alternative to urban farming development; (b) maintaining the safety and security status of production land through flood prevention and control efforts; (c) designing and developing land-saving urban farming models with clean products; (d) providing subsidies and incentives for farming; (e) developing urban agriculture by using environmentally friendly technology; (f) strengthening of agricultural extension institutions; and (g) developing the implementation of the Sustainable Food House Area Model. The recommendations for agricultural sustainability in Denpasar City were maintaining productive rice fields, arranging the yard of the house as an alternative to be development of farming and preparing workers for agricultural sector, especially the young generation (millennial).