Home gardens are an essential component of the local food system and family farming worldwide. In Indonesia, a home food gardening program was initiated in the early 2010s to optimally utilize home yards for improving the adequacy of food consumption and nutrition intake of households. In the present challenging situation of Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a growing interest in home gardens to help mitigate food insecurity caused by food supply chain disruptions and the emergence of physical and economic barriers that limit access to food. This paper is a review of pertinent literature to find out the characteristics of home gardens and home gardening program in Indonesia and then examine their contribution to each pillar of food security: availability, access, utilization, and stability. The experiences of home gardens worldwide are reviewed to understand the global context of home gardens and food security. Literature reviews found a positive impact of home gardening program on food availability, access, and utilization. However, improving food stability through a home food gardening program is still a challenging task. This finding implies that the positive contribution of the home food gardening program to household food security is largely limited to the program period. Nevertheless, the program is still an important strategy to address food insecurity and nutrition deficiency of low-income households. Future research should assess factors affecting the sustainability of the program to derive viable models applicable in diverse circumstances. There is a need for research to assess the value and importance of home gardens as a coping strategy to reduce vulnerability and food insecurity in the present global Covid-19 pandemic.

Melon and watermelon are two high-value crops that have been commercially cultivated recently inSoutheast Sulawesi. The objective of the study was to examine and compare the cost and returns of melon andwatermelon production. The study was conducted in Abenggi village in South Konawe district of SoutheastSulawesi. Twenty melon farmers and 20 watermelon farmers were selected as respondents. Data collection wasdone using a questionnaire-based interview method. Data and information were analyzed using cost and returnsanalysis and independent sample t-test. Results of the study revealed that both melon and watermelonproduction were profitable as indicated by their revenue-cost ratio being higher than 1. Due to small size offarming, difference in net returns per farm from melon and watermelon was not statistically significant. Perhectare net returns from melon farming were statistically significantly higher than that of watermelon farming.Net returns from either melon or watermelon farming were higher than that of many other crops in theprovince. Farmers should continue to focus on the cultivation of the crops as they can increase their income andpromote rural economy. The local government should assist the development of the two crops by ensuringavailability of farm inputs and improving provision of weather forecast results to the farmers.

This study aimed to characterize the organoleptic properties of functional powdered drinks based on palm sugar. The drinks were prepared with palm sugar as the main matrix and spices in several concentrations as additional flavour. The spices were cinnamon, clove, lemongrass, red ginger and ginger. Type and concentration of the spices greatly affected the sensory properties and hedonic level of the drink products. In general, panellists preferred products with darker brown colour and mild spice flavour. Some spices, such as cinnamon and lemongrass increased the brown colour intensity. Among all tested samples, only lemongrass and red ginger flavored palm sugar drinks were liked by panelists for all studied parameters (colour, aroma and taste). Ginger flavored samples also got relatively high preference score for almost all sensory categories. However, the taste of ginger was found to suppress the unique sweet taste of the palm sugar. Therefore, special attention should be made to the amount of added ginger to preserve the distinctive flavour of palm sugar.

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