Ecological and economic performance of integrated pest management as a pathway to organic agriculture in rice farming in Indonesia

Abstract

Sustainable rice production in tropical systems increasingly depends on farming strategies that balance productivity, input efficiency, and environmental integrity. Integrated pest management (IPM) is widely promoted as a pathway toward safer and more sustainable rice (paddy) cultivation; however, evidence on its economic performance and efficiency relative to conventional practices remains mixed, particularly in Indonesia. This study compares the economic efficiency of IPM and non-IPM rice farmers in Kampar District, Kampar Regency, Riau, Indonesia, using cost-based stochastic frontier analysis applied to cross-sectional survey data from 100 farm households. The results indicate that IPM farmers achieve significantly higher economic efficiency (0.67) than non-IPM farmers (0.46). This performance difference is primarily driven by higher technical efficiency, while allocative efficiency remains comparable between the two groups. IPM practices reduce pesticide expenditure by 63.1% and increase yields by 43.4%, although they require substantially higher labour inputs, highlighting a key barrier to adoption in regions experiencing labour-saving transitions. Strengthening IPM-aligned farmer networks and enhancing extension-based training may help accelerate progress toward ecologically resilient and economically competitive rice production systems in Indonesia.