On June 1 to July 31, 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) has carried out one of its biggest events, the 2023 Agricultural Census (ST2023) in all regions of Indonesia, including Jembrana Regency. ST2023 is the seventh edition of the agricultural census carried out by BPS which has been started since 1963. The agricultural census itself is carried out every ten years in years ending in 3 in accordance with the mandate of Law No. 16 of 1997 concerning Statistics which also refers to the world food agency or FAO program.
The implementation of ST2023 was launched on May 15, 2023 by the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. Given the strategic importance of the agricultural sector in the involvement of the livelihood of many people, the accuracy of ST2023 data is mandatory for the formulation of accurate policies later. In its implementation, ST2023 covers seven agricultural subsectors, namely food crops, horticulture, plantations, livestock, fisheries, forestry, and agricultural services. The scope of agricultural business actors recorded in ST2023 includes individual agricultural businesses (UTP), other agricultural business units (UTL), and incorporated agricultural companies (UPB).
In order to produce quality agricultural data, 238 officers were deployed to record all individual agricultural business units in Jembrana Regency. The officers consisting of Koseka, PML, and PPL had previously undergone a series of tests and selections before finally being selected to become officers in this ST2023 event. Based on the results of field data collection that had been carried out during the period June 1 - July 31, 2023, it was found that there were 41,301 individual agricultural business units in Jembrana Regency. This number decreased by about 14.94 percent compared to the implementation of the 2013 Agricultural Census. Furthermore, based on the commodity coverage, it is known that the plantation subsector occupies the top position where as many as 25,695 PAPs or around 62.21 percent of the total PAPs in Jembrana Regency cultivate plantation commodities. Meanwhile, the agricultural services subsector is the subsector with the lowest number of UTPs, which is only 351 UTPs or around 0.85 percent of the total UTPs in Jembrana Regency.
ST2023 also presents new insights compared to the implementation of the previous agricultural census by capturing national strategic issues such as urban farming, millennial farmers, agricultural modernization, and also farmer income as a proxy variable for farmer welfare. In Jembrana Regency itself, there are 11 UTPs that have implemented urban farming. In addition, it is also known that there are 5,702 millennial farmers in Jembrana Regency aged 19-39 years. This number contributes about 14.4 percent of all farmers in Jembrana District.
Now, the ST2023 field data collection has been completed throughout Indonesia in general and Jembrana Regency in particular. The highest gratitude and appreciation of BPS Jembrana Regency is given to all parties involved both directly and indirectly. Finally, thank you for recording Indonesian Agriculture together for Food Sovereignty and Farmers' Welfare.
