Adoption of silvicultural practices in smallholder timber and NTFPs production systems in Indonesia

Abstract

Many factors influence adoption of smallholder agroforestry systems as part of the farm business. This paper reports farm and household factors affecting the adoption of timber and non-timber forest product management practices by farmers in Gunungkidul, Sumbawa and Timor Tengah Selatan districts in Indonesia; and how understanding those factors can facilitate the adoption of silvicultural practices for enhancing timber and NTFPs production. The research uses logistic regression models to identify the significant factors influencing farmers’ agroforestry adoption and management decisions. When considering a total of 16 factors equally, the models confirmed that farmers who have access to extension services, farmers’ groups and knowledge of government policy are more likely to adopt timber and NTFPs production technologies. The probability of management practices increasing with the greater land area was due to space for growing more timber and NTFPs species. Also, the possibility of adopting timber and NTFPs management increased as farmers had more income from on- and off-farm activities. These findings suggest that when designing extension programs farm and household factors should be considered by policy makers, researchers and extension providers.