The Department of Agricultural Socio Economics (SOSEK) had been instituted since the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture UGM based on Governments Regulation No. 37/1950 under the heading of Seksi Penyelidikan Ekonomi Pertanian (Agricultural Economics Study Section) led by the late Prof. Iso Reksohadiprodjo (Indonesia’s first agricultural economics expert). In 1972, the name of the section had been amended to the Department of Agricultural Economics along with the application of the credit system. In 1984, it was changed to the Agricultura Socio Economics Major, and then in 2016 it became the Department of Agricultural Socio Economics as stipulated in UGM’s Governance and Organizational Structure (SOTK). The Department of Agricultural Socio Economics develops agricultural socioeconomic sciences, which analyze agriculture by observing human behaviors and its relations with social conditions as a whole.
In order to align with the Bachelor Degree of Agriculture Education Program stipulated in the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 0411/U/1994, the Department of Agricultural Socio Economics manages 2 Bachelor Degree Study Programs, namely Bachelor in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness (BAA) and Bachelor in Agricultural Extension and Communication (BAEC). The BAEA Study Program comprises of 2 study concentrations, i.e. Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, which develop agricultural economic sciences at the micro level, namely farmer business management and agribusiness (production management, finance, human resource, and agricultural marketing), and the macro level, relating to decision making and technological transfer in the field of agriculture. The BAEC Study Program maintains 1 study concentration, i.e. Agricultural Extension and Communication, which develops agricultural extension sciences covering the micro aspects, i.e. extension management at the farmer level by understanding rural community’s conditions, and the macro aspects pertaining to technological transfer in the field of agriculture along with an understanding about and development of dissemination of agricultural information.
The Postgraduate Programs developed by the Department of Agricultural Socio Economics include 2 Magister Study Programs (Magister of Agricultural Economics Study Program and Magister of Agribusiness Management Study Program) and 2 Study Interests managed by the Doctorate of Agricultural Science Study Program (Doctorate of Agricultural Economics Study Interest and Doctorate of Agribusiness Study Interest). Founded in May 1999, the Magister of Agribusiness Management Study Program has not only been accepting students who are fresh graduates but business practitioners and government employees from BRI, BULOG, BKKBN, RNI, PTP, and Regional Offices in the Yogyakarta and Central Java Provinces. In addition to developing the Postgraduate Study Programs at the Faculty of Agriculture, some of the faculty members of the Undergraduate BAEC Study Program at the Department of Agricultural Socio Economics have also pioneered the development and management of the Magister and Doctorate of Development Communication and Extension Study Program at UGM’s Postgraduate School.
The Department of Agricultural Socio Economics is equipped with 4 laboratories to facilitate the pedagogic process, i.e.:
- Laboratory for Agribusiness
- Laboratory for Natural Resources and Agricultural Policies
- Laboratory for Agricultural Socio Economics and Agribusiness Modeling
- Laboratory for Agricultural Extension and Communication