Analysis of Farmer Behaviour to the Risk of Corn Farming System in Banyumas Regency

Abstract

Agriculture is an activity burdened with multiple risk factors, some of which are related to yields and price fluctuations. The uncertainty of the yields and also the price on agricultural commodities often leads farmer to loss. Therefore, farmers tend to resist from the possibility of risk and uncertainty of agribusiness. As a decision marker, farmers become reluctant to increase investment to develop and expand their business in agriculture. The research aims to: 1) analyse the risk of cost, production and price; 2) identify farmer behaviour to the risk of corn farming system; 3) determine the factors that affecting farmers’ behaviour toward risk of corn farming system. The research was conducted at Karanggintung Village, Sumbang District, Banyumas Region which is one of corn producing villages in Banyumas Region. Variation coefficient, quadratic utility function model, and regression analysis were used in this study. Results show that farmers face high risk on cost, while it is low on the risk of production and price. From thirty seven respondents, 70.27% farmers are risk averter, 10.81% farmers are risk lover, and the remaining is neutral. Farmers’ behaviour was influenced by harvest area, years of education, and experience.