Situational Analysis and Feasibility of Cost-Cutting Management for Vegetable Farmers in West Java, Indonesia

摘要

Karya Teguh KUD (Koperasi Unit Desa) covers the village of Langensari in Lembang Sub-District which has a long history and expensive experience in vegetable production. It is unlikely to expect that the KUD would become a leader on its own initiativeto promote vegetables production efficiently and economically. On the other hand, we could expect the local Farmers' Group would initiate the promotion of vegetable production and efficient and economical marketing technigues. To understand the present situation, investigation was conducted by interviewing 18 farmers of Sari Mukti Farmers' Group, composed of 22 member farmers, who were all said to be cultivating vegetables in September, 2001. Many farmers like them were forced to cultivate vegetables insmall-sized operating area. The study analyzed actual situation of skill and cultivation management of two small household farmers. These two farmers gained relatively large profits and generated a lot of job opportunities for others. Most of the harvest activities were done by laborers hired by traders under the "borongan" system. To increase the farmer's income, they should expand their operating area and/or cut cost in producing*vegetables. If the interval of spraying for example becomes wider, thenumber of times of spraying would be decreased. It means that the quantity of pesticide used would be less and its cost would become smaller accordingly.