Rice Farmers’ Adoption and Economic Benefits of Integrated Pest Management in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

Abstract

The study examined the adoption levels and economic benefits of IPM among rice farmers in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The research was conducted in two main rice producing areas of the province, Soppeng and Maros Regencies. Simple random sampling was employed in selecting 20% of the total populations, resulting in sample sizes of 69 repondents in Soppeng and 52 respondents in Maros. A structured questionnaire was used in direct interview with the selected respondents to obtain data on their socio-economic profile, IPM implementation, and profit gained from IPM. Percentage was used to present the data. In both regencies, overall IPM adoption rates were high with most respondents were categorized as medium and high IPM adopters with adoption rates of 85.1% in Soppeng and 88.5% in Maros. The medium and high IPM adopters gained more economic profits of 26.9% in Soppeng and 16%% in Maros in comparison to the low IPM adopters. The high adoption rates indicated that although the nationwide IPM Program has ended in late 1990’s, there was a continuous technological transfer from older farmers who participated in IPM-FFS to younger farmer generation. In order to improve IPM implementation by the younger farmers, they need to be provided with intensive extension support for IPM innovations.

Keywords: Integrated pest management, rice farmers, adoption, economic benefit