An Analysis on Performance of Land-Based Farming System

Abstract

Efficiency and productivity are important terms in understanding performance of farming system. Landbased farming system is generally efficient and productive, if it operates in a certain range of land holding scale. This study assumed that efficiency and productivity are related to farmland holding scale, land fragmentation, and cropping diversification. In land based farming system, land ownershiplholding scale and fragmentation and cropping diversification are assumed to have specific correlation.This study was conducted under a cooperation work between Research Institute of Bogor Agricultural University and Agency for Research and Development of Department of Agriculture, in a research titled "Cropping Diversification and Employment Development, Stage 11". Study area comprised 6 (six) provinces, i.e.: North Sumatera, South Sumatera, Lampung, West Java, East Java, and South Sulawesi. From these provinces, it was sampled 12 districts.This study conclude that lower level of efficiency, productivity and farmer income is significantly related to smaller scale of farmland ownershiplholding, highly fragmented land ownershiplholding, and miscoordinated (sprawl) land utilization pattem. Farmland tends to decrease every year, but fragmentation of land ownersh~plholdingte nds to increase every year. In another way, miscoordinated land utilization pattern tends to expand. Therefore, arrangement of land mershiplholding, consolidation of land, and coordination of landutilization are expected to be one of effective policy instruments in solving current problems of land-based farmingsystem's efficiency and productivity.