The Department of Soil Science and Land Resource (DSSLR) is one of the departments in the Faculty of Agriculture, Institut Pertanian Bogor (recently known as IPB University). It was established as Landbouwwetenschap or Lembaga Pendidikan Tinggi Pertanian (LPTP, The Institute for Higher Education in Agriculture) in Buitenzorg (Bogor), 1940. Alongside with Fakulteit der Diergeneeskunde, the institute was managed by Universiteit van Indonesia (now, Universitas Indonesia). In 1950, the institute was reformed as Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Indonesia, having two departments, i.e. Department of Agriculture and Department of Forestry. Later on, it was expanded to include Department of Inland Fisheries. Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine then established Institut Pertanian Bogor in 1963 (Decrees: Minister PTIP No. 91/1963 and President No 279/1965 dated 14 September 1965). Until 1981, Faculty of Agriculture hosted eight departments: Department of Natural Sciences, Department of Botany, Department of Agronomy, Department of Prosperity of Agriculture Families, Department of Agricultural Socio-economics, Department of Plant Diseases, Department of Statistics and Computation and Department of Soil Science.

The name of the department was changed into DSSLR to reflect the developments in soil sciences and related technologies which largely accommodate land and spatial systems. DSSLR hosts an undergraduate program, the Land Resource Management (LRM); two masters programs, i.e., Masters of Soil Science and Masters of Regional Planning; and a doctorate program, Doctor of Soil Science.

Contributions

The department has strong contribution to national agenda, for instance BIMAS program related to food sufficiency in Indonesia. DSSLR has also assisted in the development of policies in the areas of spatial arrangements, peat soils and agricultural land protection.