Baseline Study Report on the Scaling and Dissemination of Rice Crop Manager in Indonesia

"As the fourth largest producer of rice in the world, Indonesia is expected to be a major contributor to the world market. However, the opposite is taking place since Indonesia is currently ranked as the 7th major rice importer. Problems in rice production comprised key issues such as fertilizer use. In the past, an overuse of the input was reported, which led to a declining production trend. The site-specific nutrient management was recognized to have the key potential in fertilizer management, which is the principle behind the Rice Crop Manager (RCM) (also known as Layanan Konsultasi Padi (LKP) in Indonesia). This digital tool aids in identifying the best nutrient management. A project that aims to disseminate RCM in Indonesia was initiated in 2022 and will conclude in 2024. This project aims to raise the farmer’s yield and income and is in line with the 2018 agenda of the World Government Summit which puts a premium on the future of agriculture technology. This paper intends to present salient findings from the baseline survey for the scale and dissemination of LKP in Indonesia. The survey was conducted in four provinces: West Java, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, and Central Kalimantan from September 2023 to July 2024. A total of 704 farmers were interviewed and were classified as control and treatment groups based on the district. The latter serves as the target site while the former is the status quo. This is to account for the differences relevant to future analysis. The results highlight the following:

1. The profile of farmers is predominantly male with a family consisting of a typical 4 to 5 household members. Farmers are in their middle age with two decades of farming experience. On average, farmers finished junior high school level. Their rice farmland averaged around 0.9 hectares, covering two periods of seasons: wet season (October to March) and dry season (April to September). Fifty-nine percent of the farmers draw income from other sources which signifies the insufficiency of rice income. The main plot averaged 0.8 hectares with 67% of the farmers owning land. The land rent in West Java is roughly thrice as expensive compared to Central Kalimantan. This reflects the growing density of the population and competing land use. The type of ecosystem is generally classified as irrigated, except for a majority of rainfed in North Sumatra.
2. The farmers’ activities from land preparation to crop maintenance are also characterized. Machine rent is highly employed in land preparation. In particular, the wheel tractor is used for tillage and levelling while the cage wheel is for puddling. The burning of rice straw stands out in West Java. Manual transplanting is a common method for crop establishment. The seeding rate in West Java is far lower, probably due to the practice of layoutsuch as straight-row planting and using the next 4-6 hills per row of the seeds. The farmers use modern varieties such as Inpari 32 HDB, Ciherang, and Ciliwung. The fertilizer is applied twice manually using Urea, Phonska, and Petro inorganic fertilizers. The average NPK ratio during the wet season is 115-32-25 while 113-31-24 during the dry season. Around 9% of the farmers also utilize an average of 184 kg per hectare of organic fertilizer, but a higher rate prevails in Central Kalimantan (16%). Irrigation is practiced by 55% of the farmers in the wet season while 76% during the dry season. Group-managed characterized the irrigation in West Java while self-managed with the rest of the provinces. The source of irrigation is pump-based in North Sumatra while canal or gravity-based in the other three provinces. When it comes to weed management, herbicide is preferred by farmers in South Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan, but both hand weeding and herbicide are utilized in North Sumatra. Chemical application is prevalent in addressing pest and disease control.
3. Methods of harvesting and threshing differ across provinces. In West Java, harvesting is done manually while threshing is semi-mechanical. South Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan, on the other hand, use machines in harvesting. while manual and semi-mechanical prevail in the area. Farmers in North Sumatra use semi-mechanical methods in harvesting while machines for threshing are used. Drying is highly practiced by farmers in West Java and Central Kalimantan, which is commonly done through manual sun drying.
4. The income generated from rice farming derives mainly from selling fresh paddy, except that in Central Kalimantan, a greater portion of harvested paddy is sold dried. On average, the actual net income during the wet season is approximately 16M IDR while 17M IDR in the dry season. When imputing for the total cost, the farmer’s rice production generates a net income amounting to 14 to 15 M IDR per hectare per season. Net income is higher by 11% when accounting for the government subsidy and support. In both types of computation, larger income is observed during the dry season. Across provinces, West Java farmers generally experienced higher income due to an inflated price (specifically during the dry season) and more productive yield. West Java performed the highest yield at 6,342 kg/ha on average for both seasons while Central Kalimantan produced 3,368 kg/ha generating a mean yield of 4,819 kg/ha for all provinces. The lower yield is confirmed in the swampy area of Central Kalimantan, together with its low consumption of fertilizer. As for input costs such as seeds and irrigation, it entails lower costs in West Java. This emanates from the lower quantity of seed used. Irrigation, on the other hand, is without much cost due to government subsidy but land rental cost occupies the second largest expenditure. Overall, fertilizer cost occupies the third largest portion of the total expenses for all provinces next to contract cost and labor cost. However, in North Sumatra, the fertilizer is the second largest portion of the total cost, while in Central Kalimantan, the second highest proportion is the chemical cost. This justifies the call for efficient use of the input and explores ways to maximize every bit of the input used.
5. A greater number of farmers are involved in the Definitive Plan for Subsidized Fertilizer Needs. On top of the assistance provided by the organization and government availed by the farmers is fertilizer subsidy. There is ongoing technical advice provided by the extension worker who visits the farmer twice per season. This implies a convenient gateway for LKP to be disseminated. This is confirmed in the high rating given by the farmers in their willingness to receive and apply the recommendations from extension workers. However, one important consideration by the farmers in choosing the type, amount, and timing of fertilizer application is the traditional practice. Based on a 2013 survey, most farmers in Indonesia used urea, compound fertilizer, and superphosphate with an average quantity of 4.37, 6.04, and 3.08 bags per hectare, respectively. The majority of the farmers applied fertilizers only once during the seedling stage while two to three times during the standing crop based on the earlier survey. Adherence to previous practice means that farmers are hindered by their customary way of doing things unless presented with better proof and guided thoroughly by the extension worker on alternative ways of doing things.
6. Information on digital use is also crucial since LKPRCM utilizes smartphones in the process of getting fertilizer recommendations. A fairly large number of farmers already use handphones (79%), from which smartphones (70%). Farmers can operate the phones but only to a certain degree. They acknowledged that it is not easy to operate phones but are willing to learn and try applications for rice production. For them, it won’t take much time to learn. This is a good signal for the dissemination and upscale of the RCM in the region. Moreover, farmers find it useful to use phones. They have been exposed to getting farm-related information. Although farmers showed a lack of confidence, and their level of independence in the use of engines in the website as well as networking sites and online collaboration tools is quite low, the level of difficulty is quite manageable. Hence, this requires guidance and tutorials for farmers to learn. Overall, based on the observation of the farmers, the use of digital platformsin their area is still quite low.
7. To sum up, the scaling and dissemination of LKP have potential in the country due to high fertilizer cost, the set-up of extension workers with technical advice is in place, farmers are already using smartphones to access farm-related information, and farmers are willing to learn about the digital platform and to receive fertilizer recommendation. On a final note, based on the few farmers that currently use RCM-LKP in West Java, the following are highly observed in the adoption: increase in yield, lower labor cost, suitability on farmers’ preference and cropping pattern, and resilience to drought situation."