Effect of Socio-Economic on Farmers' Decisions in Using Lowland Rice Production Inputs in Indonesia

Abstract

In Indonesia, rice was produced by small-scale farmers where yields were still generally low. This was because small-scale farmers still used poor quality seeds and unbalanced fertilizers. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the socio-economic factors that affected the adoption of quality seeds in lowland rice farming and the use of fertilizers on quality seeds. This research used a double-hurdle model to answer the objectives of research and used 329 farmings which were selected randomly in Central Sulawesi Indonesia. The results show that the gender variable only affected the use of fertilizer on quality seeds. Education, access to credit, sources of income (income diversification), access to extension, meetings with farmer groups were found to be positively correlated with the decision to adopt quality seeds in lowland rice farming and use of fertilizers to quality seeds, while the number of dependents of the household head was negatively correlated. The land area of lowland rice was positively correlated with the adoption of quality seeds in lowland rice farming but negatively correlated with the number of fertilizers used for quality seeds. Based on these findings, the role of extension workers and farmer groups was needed in disseminating quality seeds, and through credit institutions, it was necessary to provide credit facilities to rice producers (farmers) so that rice productivity could be increased.