RJOAS February 2025
by Yanti Nuri Dewi, Radiah Eka, Hamdani, Devita Windi Bunga (Study Program of Agribusiness, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Lambung Mangkurat, Banjarbaru, Indonesia)
Rice is a strategic commodity that can affect economic, political stability, and social vulnerability in society. Therefore, Indonesia has a high commitment to meet the needs of the community, both for direct consumer needs and industry. The government's program to meet the needs of rice by increasing production through intensification and extensification programs, one of which is by expanding the area in tidal swamp land through the Tidal Rice Field Opening Project (P4S). To accelerate the increase in rice production is to implement the use of superior rice varieties which are generally able to produce higher production. To achieve this potential, the plants require the fulfilment of the necessary growth requirements and intensive maintenance such as sufficient fertilization, pest and disease control and proper harvest handling and post-harvest treatment. To increase efficiency, the allocation of production factors (inputs) to the farmer level is important to analyse considering the limited capital owned by farmers. Therefore, efforts are made to ensure that the producer's (farmer) goal of obtaining maximum profit is realized. The purpose of this study is to analyse production factors, as well as to measure the use of optimum production factors in superior rice variety farming in tidal swamp land in Barito Kuala Regency. The study result showed that the production factors (land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, pesticide, and labour) simultaneously influence rice production. Meanwhile, partial tests showed that all production factors influenced the production simultaneously, except for labour which did affect the production. Furthermore, the study showed that none of the production factors were used efficiently yet. The inputs of land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, and pesticides are still not optimum, so the quantity of these inputs needs to be increased. However, the input used for labour should be reduced because its use was already excessive.
Agriculture is an important sector in the Indonesian economy. This sector has a fundamental role in its capacity to fulfil people's food needs, where this sector includes the sub-sectors of food crops, plantations, forestry, fisheries, and livestock. Food consumption that is needed in large quantities and is the basic need of the Indonesian population is rice. Most people in Indonesia use rice as a source of daily carbohydrate fulfilment. Rice is a strategic commodity that can affect economic, political stability and social vulnerability in society. Therefore, the government has a high commitment to meeting the needs of the community both for direct consumer needs and industry. Food self-sufficiency (especially rice) is carried out by continuing to encourage increased rice production with various programs and activities.
The government's program is to meet the need for rice by increasing production both through intensification and extensification programs. The program for expanding the area (extensification program) outside Java has been carried out by the government for several decades, including expanding the area in tidal swamplands through the Tidal Rice Field Opening Project (P4S, Proyek Pembukaan Persawahan Pasang Surut). This program was run by the government from 1969 to 1984, with a target of opening 5.25 million ha of land in stages for 15 years (Noor, 2004). One of the areas where this program is located is South Kalimantan, especially considering that South Kalimantan is one of the national rice barns outside Java and Sumatra, which contributes to 2023 rice production of 835,282 tons of GDG (ground dry grain) (BPS, 2024). Over time, the government continues to be committed to realizing food self-sufficiency (rice) as achieved in 1984. Since 2014, the government has re-launched the program to achieve food self-sufficiency and even food sovereignty, through the Special Efforts for Rice, Corn, and Soybeans Program (UPSUS PAJALE) and more specifically in the Swamp Land Optimization Program through the SERASI Program (Save Swamps, Prosper Farmers). Of the rice production produced by South Kalimantan, more than 20% is contributed by Barito Kuala Regency so it can be said that Barito Kuala Regency is the centre of rice production in South Kalimantan. When compared to the previous year's production (2022), South Kalimantan's rice production decreased by 4.33%, namely from 873,130.27 tons of GDG to 835,282 tons of GDG. As seen at the provincial level, it turns out that the decline in rice production also occurred in Barito Kuala Regency, where production in 2022 was 182,840.52 tons of GDG to 174,921.0 tons of GDG in 2023 (4.33%) (BPS, 2024). To accelerate the increase in rice production one of the targets of agricultural development is to implement the use of superior varieties. Superior varieties are generally able to produce greater production when compared to local varieties. The potential productivity of tidal swamp land is 3-6 t ha-1 (Kurniawan, A.Y., 2012), while Subagio et al. in Mamat, HS and Noor. 2019) showed that in Karang Buah Village (Barito Kuala Regency) results showed between 4.5-6.7 tons of GDG ha-1. In addition, the application of superior varieties allows an increase in the rice planting index (IP) (Yanti, N.D. and Eka R., 2019). High rice production will not only increase the availability of rice to meet national food needs, but most importantly it can increase farmers' income and welfare. On the other hand, the low use of superior variety seeds is due to more intensive maintenance, which requires more capital but is not balanced with high product prices (Suryana, 2017). Therefore, the application of superior seeds at the farmer level is still low (Darsani Y.R. and Koesrini, 2018).
The Barito Kuala Regency area is a lowland area with a tidal swamp land type. Tidal swamp land is suboptimal land with a relatively low fertility level because the water system is difficult to control and the chemical characteristics of the soil do not provide maximum support for the agricultural cultivation system (Susilawati, A. et al., 2017 and Noor, 1996). To produce a production that reaches its potential, of course, rice plants also want to fulfil the necessary growing requirements, especially the use of superior varieties. In addition to suitable land, superior rice varieties require intensive maintenance such as sufficient fertilization, pest and disease control, and good harvest and post-harvest handling. Okello, D. M., et al. (2019) stated that to increase efficiency, the allocation of production factors at the farmer level is important so that the producer's goal of obtaining maximum profit will be realized. Based on the conditions described above, the purpose of this study is to analyse the use of optimum inputs in rice farming with seeds from superior varieties in tidal swamp land in Barito Kuala Regency. The proposed topic is a continuation of previous research in tidal land, including farmers' attitudes towards the SERASI government program; the tendency to apply superior varieties in rice farming, and the implications of planting superior rice varieties on the welfare of farmer households. In general, the main activity of the community in the wetland area is farming, especially rice, where the activities carried out are still conventional and partial with only one harvest a year using local varieties. One of the efforts made by the government to boost the economy in rural areas is by facilitating the application of technology through planting superior purple rice varieties so that they can be harvested twice a year. The results of the study are expected to be used as considerations and provide direction in making government planning and policies in the agricultural sector so that they will run effectively and not be misdirected.
The objectives of this research were as follows: (1) to analyse the effect of inputs used on superior rice production; (2) to analyse the input used on superior rice. This research is expected to be beneficial for: (1) the community, especially farmers, to be an input and reference in rice farming, (2) the government, as data in making decisions in agriculture, (3) academics, as this research provides information about the analysis of the use of optimum input on superior rice variety.
This research was carried out from April to November 2024, using a survey method. The data collected consists of primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through direct interviews with farmers who cultivate superior rice varieties in two villages in Barito Kuala Regency, namely Karang Buah Village in Belawang District and Karang Sari Village in Mandastana District. The sample farmers (respondents) in this research are 90 farmers. Secondary data was collected from various related agencies such as the Central Bureau Statistics of Barito Kuala, the Department of Agriculture, Food Crops and Horticulture as well as other agencies. The primary data obtained was processed and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
The first objective was to analyse the influence of inputs used on superior rice production using a multiple linear regression function model, namely the Cobb-Douglas function type model, Debertin (1986). The production factors included in the model were land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizer, lime, pesticide, and labour, respectively. From the production function obtained, simultaneous and partial testing of production factors that affect rice production was carried out simultaneously (F-test) and partially (t-test). The next step was to estimate the optimum use of each production factor. Debertin (2012) stated that maximum profit will be achieved with the use of optimum production factors. This condition is achieved if the value of the marginal product (VMP) is equal to the marginal factor cost (MFC). In other words, the optimum production factor index is achieved if the ratio between VMP and MFC is equal to one. If VMP is greater than MFC the use of production factors is not optimum yet. Hence, it should be increased. Conversely, if VMP is smaller than MFC the intended production factors were not used excessively. So, the production factor needs to be reduced.
Tidal swampland is the land whose water conditions depend on sea water level. This type of land is usually found in coastal areas and certain places close to river mouths or swamps near the coast. In South Kalimantan Province, tidal swampland is often found in Barito Kuala Regency and Banjar Regency, and a small part is in Tanah Laut Regency. Utilization of tidal swampland for agricultural activities is one form of adaptation of farming communities to the specific biophysical conditions of tidal swampland. This process has been going on for hundreds of years and has become institutionalized in the social life of farming communities in tidal swampland. Through experience and various trials (trial and error) in dealing with the constraints and limitations of tidal swampland, farmers can meet their various life needs and live in harmony with nature. The specific nature of tidal swampland that requires special handling and rice varieties that are adaptive to these conditions has made local knowledge a very valuable asset in rural rice farming practices. To support the government's program to increase rice production as the staple food of the Indonesian people, the government introduced rice varieties with higher yields so that they are known as superior seeds, with various varieties being developed. To analyse the tendency of farmers to adopt technology, the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers need to be understood first, including the gender of the household head, age and education, and the number of family dependents.
Mostly, the heads of household of the respondents were male. This shows that in this area, the head of the household was still dominated by men, meaning that the male population felt no need to leave the area because there were still lots of potential aspects to develop. Figure 1 shows a comparison of the gender of respondent farmers.
Age is one of the criteria that determines a person's work productivity. It impacts knowledge, attitude, and quality of work in carrying out rice production. In the population, the age between 15-65 years is included in the productive age, while someone who is less than 15 years old is of school age (children), so they are considered unproductive. Likewise, if someone is over 65 years old they are considered elderly. Therefore, they account for the workforce that is no longer productive. Based on the data, the respondent farmers were in the productive age range, namely between 15-65 years. The average age of the respondent farmers was 50.12 years.
The age of farmers in this area varied from the youngest age of 40 years to the oldest age of 60 years. In the context of rice farming, the age of farmers explains the length of their experience in carrying out this rice farming activity. The experience of farmers in rice farming was quite diverse. The longest experience reaches 35 years, with the average experience of farmers in carrying out rice farming activities in this area being 25.12 years. Most farmers had between 20-30 years of experience. Table 1 shows the distribution of respondent age.
Education is the most important thing in human life and education is never-ending. In general, education is a life process in developing everyone to be able to live and continue life. There is formal education (school education), non-formal education (education in society) and informal education (education in the family environment). Informal education is education that someone obtains from daily experiences consciously or unconsciously from birth to death. The level of education greatly influences the mindset of farmers in making decisions, the higher the level of education, the faster and more precise the decision-making will be. For farmers, it seems that they get more education or knowledge from informal education, considering that formal education is still low or only graduated from elementary school so that in managing rice farming in this tidal swamp area it is only based on inherited knowledge that is hereditary. The formal education obtained by farmers in this area was mostly only elementary schools, as much as 63.33%, junior high schools as much as 26.67%, and senior high schools as much as 0.10% (Figure 2).
The number of family dependents is the number of family members who are still dependents of the family, both siblings and non-siblings who live in the same house. Households can theoretically be viewed as economic units. The rational behaviour of households in allocating resources to consumption decisions is certainly an effort to meet family needs. The more family members, the more needs that must be met. The most important living needs that must be met for survival are food, clothing and shelter. For food and clothing needs in household economics, it will generally be directly proportional to the number of family members. The larger the family size, the greater the cost of living. The number of dependents of farming families in the research location area was between 2-5 people, with an average of 3.40 people. This figure showed the relatively high number of dependents of farming families, which had an impact on the high living cost that must also be met by the head of the family. In other words, the head of the family must work harder.
Agricultural cultivation is an activity of utilizing natural resources processed using human labour, animals, or agricultural machines that are often called production factors, including in the cultivation of superior rice. Production factors are factors that are compulsory in production consisting of four components, namely land, labour, capital, and management. Meanwhile, production facilities are facilities needed in the production process consisting of land area, seeds/seedlings, labour, fertilizers, both organic and inorganic fertilizers. In addition, protecting plants is also needed as part of plant maintenance such as herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and others. All the above will ultimately determine farming production.
Mostly, respondents were migrant farmers who came from outside the region. Farmers at the research location came from Java who came when they participated in the Transmigration Program initiated by the government some decades ago. Therefore, the land used by farmers is their own. The average area of land they cultivate is 43.35 borong (1.24 ha). The narrowest area of land cultivated is 25 borong (0.71 ha), while the most is 65 borong (1.86 ha).
There were two types of seeds used, namely Infara 2 Variety and Margasari Variety. The tendency of farmers to choose certain varieties was based on their preference for that variety. For example, farmers use the Infara Variety because the variety has high adaptability when planted in swampy areas. On the other hand, the Margasari Variety had characteristics that are almost like local rice varieties such as small grain and tasty. In the research study, 70% of farmers used Infara Variety, and 30% used Margasari Variety. The average use of seeds was 39.76 kg farm-1 (32.20 kg ha-1) with a range between 20 kg to 60 kg which was the most.
Production can be increased by providing a stimulus in the form of fertilizer, either artificial fertilizer (inorganic) or fertilizer derived from living things such as compost or manure. At the research location, the use of fertilizers is limited to inorganic fertilizers such as Urea, NPK, SP-36. However, not all farmers used complete fertilizers, due to limited capital. The results of the study showed that only 23.66% of farmers used complete fertilizers, while the rest only used urea and NPK fertilizers. The average use of inorganic fertilizers was 307.26 kg farm-1 (247.79 kg ha-1). In addition, farmers also used lime to reduce soil acidity which is commonly found in most tidal areas. The average dose of lime used by farmers was 337.14 kg farm-1 (271.89 kg ha-1).
This production factor is used to reduce pest and disease attacks that can reduce rice production. The pesticides used were herbicides (such as Gramoxone, and RoundUp); insecticides (such as Spontan, Virtako, Regent, Alika or Sidatan); or various types of fungicides. The average pesticide and herbicide used by farmers was 0.31 L farm-1 (0.25 L farm-1).
Generally, the labour used in farming comes from within the family. Therefore, it seems that they do not consider how much labour they devote to superior rice variety farming. Based on research, the average labour used for rice farming using superior variety was 140.91 mwd farm-1 (113.64 mwd ha-1) from land preparation and seeding to harvest. The largest labour used was during planting activities, which was an average of 52.27 mwd farm-1 (42.15 mwd ha-1), followed by harvest activities of 35.46 mwd farm-1 (28.61 mwd ha-1).
To determine the influence of the use of production factors in rice production, an estimate was made using a regression analysis of the Cobb-Douglas function as below:
ln Y= 1.112 + 0.413 ln X1 + 0.309 ln X2 + 0.142 ln X3 + 1.86 ln X4 - 0.053 ln X5 + 0.020 ln X6
Based on the results of the regression analysis, the value of the coefficient of determination (R2) of the function is 0.847 (Table 2). This shows that the amount of superior rice production is determined by 84.7% of the independent variables (land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, pesticides, and labour), while the remaining 15.3% is determined by other variables which not included in the model.
Furthermore, the result showed that simultaneously all production factors included in the model had a significant effect on the dependent variable. This was indicated by the F-count value (79.281) which was greater than the F-table (2.12) where the significance value shows 0.000 which was smaller than the value of 0.05 (α = 5%). Thus, the decision taken was to reject H0 and accept H1. On the other hand, partially the production factors of land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, and pesticide showed a significant effect on rice production, while the variable of labour did not show a significant effect, at a 95% confidence level. The table below shows the results of simultaneous testing (F-test) and partial testing (t-test).
The table above showed that the use of the land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, and labour showed a positive regression coefficient which is also known as the elasticity coefficient in Cobb Douglas model. This means that every 1% increase in production factors will increase production by the regression coefficient (in percentage). For example, the coefficient elasticity of land area was 0,4133 means that every 1% increase in the land area will increase production by 0.413%. The use of production factors of pesticides showed a negative regression coefficient of 0.053. This means that the use of pesticides increased by 1% will result in a decrease in rice production of 0.053%. This condition can occur if the use of pesticide does not follow recommendations, which was the 7P (7 precise) namely precise dose, precise time, precise frequency, precise type, precise method, precise place, and precise price.
It is often found that farmers carry out farming activities on their land only based on local culture and experiences. Generally, they do not calculate the profits and losses in farming. This condition occurs especially in rice farming. Farmers assume that being a rice farmer is a way of life, so they never calculate the inputs they use. Due to low education and limited knowledge, farmers generally do not know how much input(s) should be applied to their farming to achieve maximum profit. In addition, farmers also face limited capital and difficulty in obtaining production facilities.
Based on the research results, it is known that all production factors analysed in this study are in a non-optimal condition. In other words, of the six production factors analysed, five are still not optimal, namely land production factors, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, and pesticides, while the labour factor is in an optimum condition. The optimum production factor occurs when the efficiency index is equal to one, in other words, the value of the marginal product is equal to the value of the relevant production factor (vo).
As seen in the table above, the efficiency index (k) of all production factors included in the model did not have a value of one. Five production factors showed an efficiency index greater than one, which means that the use of the production factors in question was not efficient yet, so the quantity of use needs to be increased to make it optimum or efficient. On the other hand, the efficiency index of the labour production factor reaches a value of less than one, meaning that the use of labour needs to be reduced so that the production factors used become efficient.
When associated with the previous regression analysis where the pesticide production factor showed a regression coefficient of -0.053, which means that for every 1% increase in pesticide input, rice production was reduced by 0.053%. This means that the use of pesticides has exceeded the needs of rice plants. However, when viewed from the efficiency index, this input must be increased to achieve efficient use. This condition can occur allegedly because farmers do not use the agent (pesticide) according to rice cultivation recommendations (7 P). Therefore, pesticide input must be applied carefully so that no waste causes high costs. Further analysis is a statistical test of each production factor to its optimum use, with the hypothesis:
- H0: ki = 1 (input used is optimum);
- H1: ki ≠ 1 (input used is not optimum).
The decision rule used was if: the t-count was greater than the t-table (α/2; n-k-1), then H1 would be accepted, and H0 would be rejected, meaning that the use of production factors was not efficient, yet (ki ≠ 1). On the other hand, if the t-count was smaller than the t-table (α/2; n-k-1), then accept H0 and reject H1 which means that the production factors used were optimum. The result of the data analysis showed that all production factors were not efficient because the t-count was greater than the t-table.
The production factors of land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, pesticide, and labour had a significant influence on the production of superior rice varieties simultaneously, while partially all production factors included in the model showed a significant influence, except for labour.
The coefficient of the elasticity (regression coefficients) of the production factors of land area, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, and labour were positive, except for pesticides which showed a negative value.
The production factors of land, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, lime, and pesticides were less than the recommendation. Therefore, they were not optimum (not efficient). Meanwhile, the labour used was more than the requirement, in other words, it was also not efficient.
Farmers should be given training in the use of pesticides in farming since this variable showed a significant negative effect on the production of superior rice varieties in tidal swampland. To achieve maximum profit, it is necessary to increase the amount of land, seeds, inorganic fertilizers, and lime, so additional capital is needed. Hence, farmers need support from the government.
Researchers would like to thank the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) of the University of Lambung Mangkurat which has provided research funds through the Obligatory Research Lecturer Research Grant (PDWM).
Original paper, i.e. Figures, Tables, References, and Authors' Contacts available at http://rjoas.com/issue-2025-02/article_04.pdf