A Suggested National Soils Policy for Indonesia

Soils are a basic natural and almost non-renewable resource, the use of which should be governed by two major principles: - soil losses and degradation must be avoided, and, - soils must be used to their maximum potential for human benefits, but within the limits of environmental soundness and of sustainability. Therefore a national soils policy should constitute a set of guidelines that aim to ensure and promote maximum utilization of soils on a sustained basis, without lowering productivity or causing direct or indirect damage to the environment. A national soils policy has four basic aspects, addressing respectively technical, socio-economic, institutional and legal elements. Indonesia covers almost 2 million km 2 , with a wide range of soils, agroclimates and resultant land-use types. About 30% of the total land surface - 60 million ha - is considered suitable for agricultural production, and half of that is already under cultivation.