Developing Knowledge, Attitude, Motivation, and Behavior of Farmers in Diversification of Farming Business Sustainable in Technical Irrigation in South Sulawesi

Abstract

Technical irrigation is a very large state investment, to support the economy, especially in agrarian countries, namely to irrigate rice-producing fields as a source of staple food for the community, especially in Indonesia. Irrigated areas need to be maintained so that they provide the greatest benefit to farmers and the community in a sustainable manner. Farmers need knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behavior to diversify farming, so that agricultural land can be planted with various kinds of farming that are profitable for farmers. Therefore, farmers need to be trained on: farming diversification, ecosystems of irrigated agricultural areas, conservation, the environment, and farming. This study aims to: (1) determine the knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behavior of farmers to diversify their farming business in a sustainable manner in technical irrigation areas before and after experiments on ecosystems, environment, conservation, and farming; (2) determine the effect of experimentation on increasing knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behavior of farmers to diversify farming in a sustainable manner in technical irrigation areas. This research is classified as an experimental research conducted in the technical irrigation area of South Sulawesi. The sample area is Rompegading Village as the experimental area, and Pattojo Village as the control area, selected by purposive sampling method. The samples of the experimental group and the control group were 25 farmers each, also selected by the purposive sampling method. The variables to be considered are: (1) knowledge, attitude, motivation, and behavior of farmers to diversify their farming business before and after being given an experiment; (2) the effect of experimentation on increasing knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behavior of farmers to diversify their farming business., The experimental design used was the pretest-posttest control group design. The data analysis used is descriptive statistical analysis and inferential statistical analysis. The inferential analysis model used is independent <i>t</i> test. The results showed that: (1) knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behavior of farmers to diversify their farming business, in the experimental group and the control group before the experiment, were in the low category. After the experiment the experimental group increased and was in the high category, while the control group did not experience an increase; (2) experiments have a significant effect on increasing knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behavior of farmers to diversify farming in a sustainable manner in technical irrigation areas.