The contribution of the carrying capacity of dry land agriculture to the socio-economic level of farming communities in west Lombok Regency

Abstract

Sekotong District is the area with the largest dry land in West Lombok Regency with a low level of agricultural productivity, but the agricultural sector is still the main livelihood for farmers. The purpose of the study was to determine the carrying capacity of dry land agriculture and its contribution to per capita income as well as to the socio-economic level of farming families in Sekotong District - West Lombok Regency. The method used in this research is a descriptive research and data collection with survey techniques. The results showed that the carrying capacity of dry land agriculture was very low at 0.284 (less than 1.00) and the contribution of the carrying capacity to the income per capita of farmers was Rp.784.454.30/capita/year, and this indicates that the socioeconomic level of farmers are at a poor level. This per capita income, both according to the poverty criteria of Sajogjo, the Central Statistics Agency and also according to the poverty criteria of the World Bank, is still classified as very poor. This condition shows that the contribution of the carrying capacity of agricultural land in Sekotong District to the level of farmers’ welfare is very low. In order to increase the carrying capacity of dry land agriculture which can improve the welfare of farmers, it is necessary to increase production through the intensification of agriculture on the land and suppression of population growth.