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Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD) - Call for papers!

The Effect of Village Labor Resource on the Feasibility of New Cropping System

(Indonesia), Master of Science (University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Thesis Abstract:

The main objectives of the sstudy were to determine the feasibility  of experimental multiple-cropping patterns with respect to labor supply in selected upland and lowland rice-growing villages in transmigrations projects in Central Lampung, Sumatra, and to examine the role of  the family labor, hired labor and exchange labor  (gotong royong) in increasing cropping intesity to achieve the farmer's sosioeconomic objectives.

A linear programming model was constructed for three farm types: lowland farms, long-settled upland farms and newly opened upland farms include in the model were experimental and existing cropping patterns with farm resources estimated at weekly levels cash labor (gotong royong) and seasonal availability.

Finding showed that the most profitable cropping pattern under present conditions of cash labor and market wages was the combination of an improved experimental cropping pattern (lowlad rice-corn-rice-bean) and the farmer's cropping patern (upland rice-corn) as managed by themselves. Tested and found profitable in 1975-76, this pattern was designed to replace the one crop system in lowland fields.

For long-opened upland areas, the farmers' cropping supervised by researchers ramained the best alternative. On newly opened upland the most profitable alternative was the combination of supervised and farmers' own cropping patterns, implemented on one fourth of the total area.

The most profitable labor utilization depended on agroeconomic environmental factors. Farmers in the lowland areas profitably used more gotong-gotong labor than in upland areas, and long-opened upland farmers used more gotong royong than those in recently opended upland areas Also when and where more cash available, the model indicated a shift from gotong royong to hired labor utilization.

Result of the study suggedt the designing of new cropping patterns that will utilize farm labor resources more evenly throughout the year anf the establishment of a credit system that will remove the constraints on cash availability so that existing cropping pattern can give higher income.