The choice of land conservation technique and effects on technical efficiency of potato farming in the highland of Bandung Regency, West Java

Abstract

The area of agricultural land is increasingly limited, making land conservation a must. The objective of the study was to determine the factors that influence the choice of land conservation and its effect on the technical efficiency of highland potato farming. This study used data at the farm level which was obtained through a survey by conducting structured interviews with 184 potato farmers in Pangalengan – West Java who were randomly selected. Data analysis employed the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method to eliminate selection bias in the selection of a sample of farmers who applied tillage in the direction of the slope or in the direction of the contour compare with tillage using the bench terrace technique. The comparison of technical efficiency is done by using the frontier production function model. The results showed that the slope of farm land and the ownership status of the land have a positive effect on the selection of bench terrace soil conservation techniques. The level of technical efficiency of potato farming using land management techniques of the slope-wise or contour-wise was not significantly different from the level of technical efficiency of farming using the bench terrace technique. Public policies that can increase the certainty of the status of farmers’ arable land will have a positive effect on the adoption of farming technology that takes into account the principles of land conservation.