A comparative analysis of organic and conventional horticultural farming in the Getasan district, Semarang Indonesia

Abstract

The organic horticultural farming system is a horticultural farming technique that relies on natural materials in its production and is a  sustainable agriculture, in contrast to the conventional horticultural farming system which still relies on chemicals in its production process. The purpose of this research was to compare organic and conventional horticultural farming systems in Getasan district,  Semarang. This study is a crosssectional descriptive-analytical study that employed survey methodologies. This study was conducted  from July to December 2019 using a sample of 314 respondents, 90 organic horticulture farmers and 224 conventional horticulture  farmers as research subjects. Research results showed that the average total additional cost of restoring soil nutrients in 100 m² / year  for organic horticulture farming was IDR. 69,958.33 less than the cost for conventional farming systems, which was IDR. 79,550.00 per 100  m² per year, with a p-value of 0.032*. The cost of purchasing fertilizer in year / 100m² on a conventional horticultural farm was IDR.  90,575.78, greater than the cost of organic horticulture farming which was only IDR. 73,170.38 with a p-value< 0,001*. The average yield of  organic horticulture farms was somewhat higher than that of conventional farms during each growing season. The average annual  income from yields in 100 m²/year for organic horticulture production was IDR 2,449,246.32, while conventional IDR. 2,369,641.10 with  p-value of 0.441 although not statistically significant. The average profit per 100 m2 / year for an organic horticultural farming system  was IRD. 1,549,303.42, which is greater than the profit value for a conventional horticultural farming system, which was IDR. 1,450,109.82,  959,289.06, although statistically not significant, with p-value = 0.228. The total annual production cost for the organic horticulture  farming system was less than the conventional system, which was IDR 901,346.78 for the organic horticulture farming system and IDR.  921,084.17 for conventional, for every 100 m² / year with p-value = 0.383, even though not statistically significant. Statistically, there was  no significant difference in labor costs between the two agricultural systems, p-value 0.702, but descriptive analysis shows that the  average labor cost per 100 m²/year for organic horticulture farming was IDR. 588,859.57, which is less than IDR. 591,760.50 for  conventional horticulture farming. Based on the parameters analyzed, the outcome of this study demonstrates that the organic    horticulture farming system is superior to the conventional horticultural farming system.