ABSTRACT
The situation in Java is similar to that throughout rural Asia where over-all, the Green Revolution has failed to raise significantly the demand for wage labour. Population densities in the Province are, with the exception of Jakarta the highest in the country. An examination of time series data shows an increase in the percentage of lifetime net migrants in the Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (D.I.Y.) as a percentage of the total population. The natural increase of population leads, in the medium term, to the fragmentation of land through inheritance or landlessness. Authors like McDonald and Sontosudarmo in a study on the ‘response to population pressure’ in a rural community of the D.I.Y. suggested that while regional out-migration would probably continue to occur, employment shifts would be likely to take place from agriculture to services. Agriculture is unlikely to absorb much more labour because there is no further available land in Java apart from uplands development which would cause environmental damages.
