Farmersr Understanding of Organic Agriculture Practices

Abstract

Organic farming is a new way to increase agricultural production, food security, human and environment health, and empower farmers. This study aims to: (1) Analyze farmers' knowledge of organic farming systems, and (2) Analyze farmer's assessment of organic farming practices. The research was conducted by a survey method on 70 farmer members of Mandiri Farmers Group in Lombok Kulon Village, the location of organic rice farming pilot project in Bondowoso Regency. Farmers' knowledge of organic farming systems shows: (1) 88.57% of farmers know that agricultural land must be converted from non-organic to organic without contamination of synthetic chemicals for 2-3 years; (2) 98.57% of farmers know that organic farming uses organic fertilizer; (3) 72.86% farmers know that organic farming uses natural variety seeds, not genetically modified seeds; (4) 92.86% of farmers know that pest and disease control using organic pesticides; and (5) 87.14% of farmers know that irrigated water and land for organic farming should be separated from conventional farming. Farmers' assessment of the complexity of organic farming practices shows: (1) Agricultural land which should be converted from non-organic soil to organic one without polluted synthetic chemicals for 2-3 years is considered long time by 44.29% and very long by 24.29% farmers; (2) The use of organic fertilizer is considered easy by 50% of farmers; (3) As many as 50% of all farmers stated that the price of organic seeds is not different from the seeds used by conventional farmers; (4) Control of plant pests and diseases by using organic pesticides is considered more difficult than the control of plant pests and diseases by using synthetic chemical pesticides by 47.14% of farmers; and (5) A total of 55.71% of farmers find it difficult and very difficult to separate land and irrigation sources from conventional farming. The results conclude that although most farmers already have knowledge of organic farming systems, there is still difficulty in organic farming practices. This is one of the strong reasons why organic farming practices are not widely adopted by farmers.