Policy pathway to resilience: Shifting to high-yielding rice seeds to reduce emissions and strengthen rice production in Indonesia

Abstract

Addressing climate change in rice farming to strengthen national food security while mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions presents complex challenges warranting policy support. Rice cultivation needs actionable emission reduction strategies, given its 57% share of Indonesia’s total agricultural emissions. Concurrently, climate change has led to reduced yields, even crop failure. While prior studies have proposed some mitigation measures, their applicability to smallholder farmers remains economically and socially constrained. The absence of effective mitigation strategies might jeopardise national food security. This study assesses optimal emissions-cutting approaches tailored for rural cultivation using a narrative literature review and qualitative field survey, encompassing interviews with 523 farmers in five provinces: North Sumatra (86), Lampung (116), West Java (94), Central Java (156), and East Java (71). A Comparison Group analysis reveals that users of high-yielding variety seeds (HYV) produced fewer GHG (1.3 tons CO2e/tons rice produced) than non-users (1.5 tons CO2e/tons rice produced), attributed to increased productivity with the same fertiliser input. Encouraging HYV adoption surfaces as a pragmatic strategy, surpassing the viability of alternative interventions. Thus, implementing national policies that promote HYV production and utilisation has emerged as an effective mitigation strategy for reducing emissions in rice cultivation while concurrently strengthening national food security.