Information on land reserves is crucial and required to support agricultural development in relation to increased population pressure, food demand, and food security. This research aims to identify and evaluate idle abandoned land based on biophysical suitability, status of land concessions, and forest areas to determine potential land reserves for agricultural development to support food security in Indonesia. The results show that, at the national level, the area of suitable abandoned lands for agricultural extensification is 27.7 million ha, but most of these lands have concession permits and are located in forest areas, so 12.4 million ha are still available, with the largest area being in dry land. The identification of abandoned land by employing satellite imagery in 54 districts resulted in a smaller acreage compared to abandoned land being mapped formally at 1:250,000. After considering land ownership and forest status, both sources resulted in similar areas at a scale of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000, i.e., 6.1 million ha and 6.0 million ha, respectively. It seems that land ownership and forest status adjusted the total acreage of identified land reserves at different map scales. An area of around 7.4 million ha will be required to meet food demand in 2045 by assuming constant consumption per capita. We found about 1.7 million ha as potential land reserves, most of which are in conversion or production forests areas. Converting forests or utilizing drylands could be potential alternatives to deal with the lack of land for food production. Moreover, due to limited wetlands, the use of reserve land in that agroecological zone should be in accordance with its designation, comply with the priority principles, and be supported by government regulations and policies, so that food security can be maintained until 2045.

The Indonesian land area is 191.1 million ha, part of which is abandoned land in various agroecosystems that have the potential for expanding the agricultural area. The purpose of this research was to geospatially analyze abandoned land based on its agroecosystem at the national and district levels, as well as to evaluate the land suitability of the land for expanding agricultural development. The methods included: (1) geospatial analysis of the national land cover map at a scale of 1:250,000 combined with soil and climate information to identify abandoned land and examine its agroecosystem, (2) selecting representative districts in each agroecosystem for visual interpretation using high-resolution imagery, i.e., SPOT 6/7, (3) assessing the land suitability of abandoned land for agricultural development at the national and district levels, and (4) predicting national abandoned land and its land suitability. The essential finding is the identification of abandoned land at around 42.6 million ha in Indonesia distributed over six agroecosystems, with the widest being in dry lowland and wet climates. Then, 54 districts were selected to characterize abandoned land by using SPOT 6/7 high-resolution imagery and were interpreted visually. It was found that the abandoned land covered approximately 16.9 million ha. The distribution of abandoned land from the interpretation of satellite imagery was smaller than that of geospatial analysis due to differences in the map scale and the use of ancillary data. The identification of abandoned land from high-resolution imagery should be carried out for all regions of Indonesia to accurately map the distribution of the abandoned land and characterize the properties. However, it requires a large amount of time, cost, and facilities to complete the inventory. The geospatial analysis that combined imageries and ancillary data identified 27.7 million ha of abandoned land suitable for expanding the agricultural area. The largest suitable abandoned land for the purpose was found in the lowlands with a wet climate, especially in Papua, Kalimantan, and Sumatra islands. The identified suitable abandoned land of 54 districts differed by scale, in which it was 11.2 million ha at the scale of 1:250,000 and 8.5 million ha at the scale of 1:50,000, respectively. The potential land expansion for food crops, particularly paddy fields, was only 2.2 million ha, located in mineral swamp land, which was predominantly located in Papua, with inadequate accessibility. Expanding paddy fields for national food security in the future would be constrained by less suitable land resources, while the near future challenge is the competition of land allocation for agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, as well as for food crops and plantations.

As a result of plans to relocate the Indonesian capital city to East Kalimantan province, Kalimantan is expected to develop rapidly and the surrounding regencies and provinces will become food support areas for the new capital. However, the vulnerability of food farming in Kalimantan is a concern that must be addressed to ensure food security. This study aims to assess the vulnerability of food farming at the regency level of the island of Kalimantan, to assess the determinant factors of the food farming vulnerability and to compose adaptation measures that can reduce vulnerability. Socio economic, climate, water and land data are sorted and analyzed to represent the level of sensitivity and exposure index (SEI) and adaptive capacity index (ACI). Locations with ‘High’ and ‘Very High’ levels of farming vulnerability become interview sites with a total of 150 respondents. The results of the interviews strengthen the results of the vulnerability analysis which helps to determine the condition of farmers and food farming in vulnerable locations. The results indicated ‘Very High’ and ‘High’ level of vulnerability in 14 regencies/cities. Floods are climate-related disasters that most often affect farmers surveyed (46%), followed by droughts (30%) and pest attacks (24%) with significant impacts (49%). The identification of the determinant factors becomes the basis for adaptive measures to support decision-makers, local practitioners, and farmers by highlighting local challenges and proposing local-specific adaptation strategies.

Increasing resilience to climate change is one of the priorities of the Government of Indonesia. Climate change has a significant impact on the agricultural sector and is projected to global gross domestic product. Java Island, as a center of food production, has a strategic location because of its strong impact on food availability in Indonesia. The study aimed to provide information about the status of the vulnerability of farming system for food at the district/city level in Java Island and the determinant factors that affect the level of vulnerability. The analysis was based on soil fertility, water availability and demand, climate, and socio-economy expressed in terms of exposure and sensitivity index and adaptation capacity index using the quadrant method. The results show that 20% of districts/cities in Java have very high levels of vulnerability. The main determinants identified in Java are the ratio of the number of extension agents and the number of farmer groups/rice field area and the rice consumption ratio to total carbohydrate food. The results of this study can be used as a reference in determining priority locations and formulating adaptation programs and actions to reduce the impact of climate change.

Since its arrival in late November 2022, chatGPT has rapidly gained popularity and significantly impacted how research is planned, conducted, and published. This article presents the findings of a brief study investigating the responses and perceptions of soil scientists in Indonesia towards chatGPT. This artificial intelligence application facilitates conversation-based interactions in text format. The study evaluated ten chatGPT answers to fundamental questions in soil science, which has developed into a normal science with a mutually agreed-upon paradigm. The evaluation was carried out by five soil scientists recognized for their expertise in Indonesia, using a scale of 1 to 100. In addition, a questionnaire was distributed to soil scientists at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), universities, and members of the Indonesian Soil Science Association (HITI) to gauge their perception of chatGPT’s presence in the research field. The study results indicate that the level of trust of soil science experts in Indonesia to chatGPT answers has reached above 80%. However, there are no significant of different of chatGPT answers free chat GPT and paid chatGPT. There is only a significant difference between the answers to long answer of paid chatGPT in Bahasa Indonesia and long answer of chatGPT in English. On the other hand, the perception of general soil scientist about level of trust only 55%. Furthermore, 80% of soil scientists believe that chatGPT can only be used as a digital tool to assist research in soil science and cannot be used without the involvement of soil scientists.