Jakarta (ANTARA) – Small vegetable farmers on the island of Java can take advantage of information and communication technology, especially Android/IOS based smartphones, to increase productivity and product selling prices. Small farmers on the island of Java generally have an area of around 1/4 ha.
Vegetable farmers have greater opportunities because they have a higher agribusiness spirit than food crop farmers who are still subsistence. Subsistence farming is a farming pattern whose motive is only to meet daily needs.
Small farming households are more interested in growing vegetable commodities to earn additional income than choosing food crops.
Vegetable farmers then use smartphones or smart phones installed with various applications to support agricultural production and marketing so that they are able to increase farming productivity, reduce input or production costs, and increase selling prices.
Research in the form of surveys and interviews with vegetable farmers using structured questionnaires has been carried out to prove this in 3 sub-districts in 3 districts, namely in Cianjur Regency, West Java; Sleman, DI Yogyakarta; and Malang, East Java.
Data was collected from 375 selected respondents in their respective regions between November 2021 and March 2022. Research was conducted to build an econometric model called the Multivariate Linear Regression (MLR) model to assess the heterogeneous factors that influence the possibility of increasing the household income of small-scale vegetable farmers through increasing productivity, reducing production costs, and increasing selling prices.
The research follows the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Theory adapted to the agricultural sector. The research results found that the ICT literacy level in the agricultural sector in Indonesia was 2.44 on a scale of 4.00.
This means that vegetable farmers have competence in using digital technology, specifically in terms of understanding the use of ICT, searching for information, and starting to communicate in digital space.
This research has increased digital literacy regarding transformation in the agricultural sector which has implications for achieving sustainable and economically viable vegetable commodity production for small farmers in Indonesia.
Among farmers, it was revealed that farmers were grouped into five categories in terms of using ordinary cellphones or smartphones for agricultural activities.
The first group, farmers do not use cell phones at all, neither regular cell phones nor smartphones. Second, farmers who use cellphones or smartphones only for calls and SMS purposes.
Third, farmers who use smartphones use the WhatsApp application but do not use many other applications. Fourth, farmers who use smartphones with various social media applications (not only WhatsApp).
Fifth is the highest level, namely farmers who use smartphones by utilizing various applications, both social media and non-social media, to increase agricultural production and marketing.
The research results show that the average respondent farmer with an area of around 1/4 ha earns IDR 4.2 million per month. The lowest income is IDR 1.3 million and the highest income is IDR 9.2 million per month.
From one vegetable commodity, farmers can earn additional household income (ceteris paribus) of IDR 133,000 per month if farmers can increase one level of cell phone use for farming activities.
Farmers can also increase their income by IDR 170,000 per month if farmers can increase one level of cell phone use for agricultural product sales activities.
Even farmers can increase their income 5 times if they are able to switch from the basic level to the highest level, namely the use of smartphones with various complete applications.
This underlines the tremendous economic opportunities opened up through the integration of ICT in agriculture.
The results of the research found complex problems for agricultural households in making dilemmatic decisions between increasing selling prices and productivity, including reducing production input costs.
If regional/national productivity increases, there will be an oversupply of agricultural commodities and then selling prices will fall. However, this trade-off is an integral part of achieving the main goal of increasing the household income of small-scale farmers.
The research also found the size of the increase in productivity needed to reduce production costs without reducing selling prices so that farming is effective and efficient.
Play an important role
The use of smartphones for agricultural activities plays an important role in agricultural development. Policy makers can use ICT literacy and the level of mobile phone use as a catalyst.
Policy makers can start promoting ICT literacy and smartphone optimization among farmers and related stakeholders.
Next, stakeholders including agricultural extension workers can provide training based on farmer class or level in using cell phones.
Farmers who can only use ordinary cellphones cannot be in the same class as farmers who are used to various applications on their smartphones to support agricultural activities.
Research also reveals that women are more effective than men in receiving such training.
Apart from increasing skills for farmers, access to ICT infrastructure and financial technology is also important to improve.
Policy makers and related stakeholders (internet providers) need to provide 4G internet networks in various places, especially in agricultural centers supporting large/small cities (markets for agricultural commodities).
In addition, satellite internet or a constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites can be an effective alternative coverage in providing connectivity to remote areas via 4G internet networks which are usually difficult to provide.
In the financial technology aspect, banks and other financial institutions can promote mobile money by providing service features and product information that suit the needs of rural communities.
This is so that agricultural households can become more proficient in using financial technology. One of them can directly use e-commerce applications to increase selling prices by cutting (cut-off) the supply chain.
Financial technology can also reduce transaction costs and financial risks when transacting with traders.
*) The author is a Doctor of Agricultural Economics at IPB and a researcher at the Center for Behavioral and Circular Economics Research, BRIN.
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