The Decline and Revival: How Social Learning Methods Reshape Sustainability in Indonesia's Apple Farming Crisis

Indonesian apple farming faces complex sustainability challenges with a gap in studies on the relationship between learning, knowledge and sustainability. The phenomenon of significant decline in the Tutur-Pasuruan apple farming centre with only 20-30% remaining, emphasises the importance of a deep understanding of farmers' social learning processes as the foundation of sustainable agriculture. The research objectives were to identify social learning methods and farmers' knowledge areas, analyse their impact on sustainability, and explore the interconnect-edness of these three aspects. A qualitative approach with a transcendental phenomenological design involved 19 informants with various characteristics. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, direct observation, and secondary documentation, with validity through source and method triangulation. Colaizzi's seven-step analysis supported by NVivo 12 Plus for coding and theme identification. The research identified 11 groups of social learning methods. Hands-on experiential learning (15.14%) was the most dominant. Knowledge areas covered 60 specific areas in 11 categories, with farm management, cultivation practices, and soil nutrient management as the highest proportion (15.87%). Sustainability impacts represent multidimensional transfor-mations in interrelated economic, environmental, social, and innovation aspects. The sustaina-bility of apple farming requires the integration of social learning methods with applied knowledge. Knowledge-sharing platforms, collaborative research, and policies that support sus-tainable practices can strengthen sustainability outcomes.