Indonesia has moved a step closer to strengthening legal protection for farmers after lawmakers completed the harmonization of proposed revisions to Law No. 19 of 2013 on Farmer Protection and Empowerment. The amendments aim to improve farmer welfare, strengthen social protection, accelerate farmer regeneration, and prepare Indonesia’s agricultural sector to meet future challenges, including digital transformation and climate change.
The Regional Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia (DPD RI) held the harmonization meeting at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, bringing together Committee II of the DPD RI and the Legislative Drafting Committee (PPUU) to finalize the draft before it enters the legislative process.
Professor Subejo, Professor of Agricultural Extension and Communication at UGM’s Faculty of Agriculture, coordinated the expert team responsible for preparing the draft bill. During the meeting, he accompanied the Chair of Committee II of the DPD RI in presenting the academic foundation and policy direction of the proposed amendments.
Professor Subejo said his team prepared the academic paper, drafted the proposed revisions, and consolidated input from academics, farmer organizations, regional governments, ministries, and other stakeholders.
The multidisciplinary team also included Professor Tavi Supriana of Universitas Sumatera Utara, Professor Muhammad Arsyad of Hasanuddin University, Dr. Parhimpunan Simatupang of Prasetiya Mulya University, and Muhammad Zhofir of Mambaul Ulum Islamic Institute. Together, they sought to ensure the proposed amendments comprehensively address the legal, economic, institutional, regional development, and social challenges facing Indonesian farmers.
According to Professor Subejo, the revision does more than update existing provisions. It redefines the direction of Indonesia’s agricultural development by strengthening farmer protection, sustaining farming businesses, improving farmers’ welfare, increasing resilience to risks, and encouraging a new generation of farmers to embrace science and technology.
The proposed bill also strengthens income protection, expands social security coverage, accelerates farmer regeneration, and promotes agricultural governance that is better equipped to respond to digitalization and climate change.
“The bill has also been included in the 2025–2029 National Legislative Program (Prolegnas) as one of the country’s legislative priorities,” he said on Thursday (July 16).
Drawing on more than three decades of research and academic work in agricultural extension, development communication, community empowerment, and farmer regeneration, Professor Subejo played a key role in shaping the substance of the proposed amendments. One of the team’s central proposals is to formally recognize Young Farmers and Farmer Regeneration as integral components of Indonesia’s farmer protection and empowerment framework.
Through revisions to Article 1, the bill defines a Young Farmer as an individual between 19 and 39 years of age. The revision also recognizes Farmer Regeneration as a strategic process that ensures the long-term sustainability of Indonesia’s agricultural development.
“Farmer regeneration is also explicitly incorporated into the scope of farmer protection and empowerment while serving as the foundation for science- and digital technology-based agricultural development planning,” he explained.
The proposed amendments further strengthen social protection through the national social security system, expand support to include young farmers, promote information technology-based agricultural infrastructure, establish climate change early warning systems, and improve public agricultural services through Minimum Service Standards (SPM).
To reinforce farmer institutions and strengthen economic resilience, the expert team proposed improving minimum price policies, expanding digital agricultural marketing, ensuring the availability of agricultural extension officers in every village based on regional needs, enhancing extension officers’ competencies in digital technology and climate change adaptation, and strengthening agricultural cooperatives.
The draft also improves farmers’ access to agricultural land by aligning several provisions with Constitutional Court Decision No. 87/PUU-XI/2013. The proposed changes include removing leasehold mechanisms that hinder land access and strengthening safeguards against the uncontrolled conversion of agricultural land.
One of the most significant additions is a dedicated chapter on Farmer Regeneration and Young Farmers. It covers education, training, internships, land access, financing, technology adoption, entrepreneurship, digitalization, research, innovation, and collaboration among government institutions, universities, the private sector, and farmer organizations.
Professor Subejo said the harmonization process will provide a stronger legal foundation for addressing the future challenges of Indonesia’s agricultural sector. Beyond protecting farmers, the revised law is expected to support the transformation of Indonesian agriculture into a sector that is more modern, resilient, inclusive, competitive, and sustainable.
He emphasized that the success of the legislative revision should ultimately be measured not by the number of amended articles but by its tangible impact on the lives of Indonesian farmers.
“Strong protection, sustainable empowerment, farmer regeneration, stronger institutions, agricultural digitalization, and improved farmer welfare are the essential foundations for realizing an advanced, independent, and sovereign Indonesian agricultural sector,” he concluded.
Author: Zabrina Kumara
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post Editor: Jasmine Ferdian
Photo: Kompas