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The relationship between ICT, the financial sector, and output growth has been extensively studied, however, macro-economic studies with an emphasis on the role of rural ICT on agricultural performance are few and yield mixed findings. Additionally, past research has not given sufficient attention to how bank credit affects agricultural performance. This paper highlighted the dynamic effect of rural ICT penetration and bank credit on agricultural performance in Eastern Indonesia. We used secondary data taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Financial Services Authority. The panel data covered 16 provinces of eastern Indonesia from the first semester of 2010 to the second semester of 2022 (2010S1-2022S2). Using the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach, the results showed that in the long run, rural ICT penetration and bank credit played a significant role in boosting agricultural performance. However, in the short run, the impact of rural ICT penetration and bank credit on agricultural performance was statistically insignificant. Finally, we recommended several important policies that can practically impact and contribute to improving agricultural performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report the results of excavation and analyses of an open site on Pulau Ay, a small (ca. 4 km2) limestone island located in the Banda Islands, central Maluku, Indonesia. This report provides results of excavations at PA1 and other Pulau Ay sites conducted in 2007 and 2009. These sites reveal patterns of changes in marine resource exploitation, pottery, and use of domestic animals, particularly between initial occupation of the site at approximately 3500 B.P., and later phases commencing approximately 3000 B.P. Archaeobotanical analyses reported here provide insight into early Neolithic plant use, including early use of Myristica fragans (nutmeg) in a food context. The PA1 site adds to a growing data set about early Neolithic lifeways in Island Southeast Asia and provides a new view of cultural adaptations happening in the region during this critical period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial attention has been given in recent years to forest and peatland degradation, transboundary haze, and biodiversity and economic impacts associated with major fire events in perhumid western Indonesia. Conversely, little information is available concerning underpinning conditions associated with burning practices and resultant fire patterns in other parts of the Indonesian archipelago, especially in markedly seasonally dry regions. As part of a broader study examining the patterning and drivers of burning in the monsoonal province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), the paper explores cultural, socioeconomic, biophysical, and, in discussion, political dimensions associated with landscape-scale patterns of burning at each of two village locations on the islands of Sumba and Flores. Assembled data illustrate that: (1) study villages are reliant on a range of subsistence agricultural activities, particularly annual food crops, livestock (especially pigs), and forest products; (2) while villages encompass mostly extensive areas of grassland savanna, proportionately most income/products are derived from limited areas of arable agricultural and very diminished forested lands; (3) despite this, considerable economic potential exists for developing certain tree products especially in agro-forestry settings, and more intensive livestock management; (4) these patterns are representative generally of surrounding regional agricultural landscapes. While burning is used as an essential agricultural management tool in defined seasonal contexts in all study villages, the reality is that today much burning is unmanaged and uncontrolled, with attendant significant economic impacts. As for western Indonesia, underlying drivers of such behavior are multiple and complex, but pointedly include: rapid societal change; conflicts within and between villages, and between villages and regulatory authorities (especially the Forestry Department), over access to land and resources; and continued nonrecognition in national and provincial fire policy frameworks of the practical necessity for using fire (wisely and safely) in many agricultural contexts. It is axiomatic that, without effective fire management and a supportive policy environment, sustainable livelihoods development will continue to be elusive in fire-prone savanna landscapes of eastern Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]