Recognizing farmers’ practices and constraints for intensifying rice production at Riparian Wetlands in Indonesia

Abstract

Despite its large acreage, riparian wetland has been underutilized in Indonesia. Intensity of agricultural activities on this wetland was very low mainly due to two unfavorable extremes, i.e. unpredictable occurrence of flooding during rainy season and drought during dry season. Relevant, affordable, and acceptable technologies are required as solution to this problems. The technologies should be developed based on actual needs, preferences, and absorptive capacity of smallholder farmers, to ensure adoption. Objective of this study was to explore needs, preferences, and absorptive capacity of smallholder farmers through direct observation on their farming practices and dialogs on constraints in intensifying food production at riparian wetlands in Indonesia. The study was conducted at five villages in riparian wetland ecosystem in South Sumatera, Indonesia, from January to June 2016. This qualitative research was conducted in two stages: started with no-preconception Grounded Theory procedure; then, followed by questionnaire-guided survey. Results of this study indicated that intensive observation on farmer’s practices and dialogs on constraints in intensifying food production could reveal needs, preferences, and absorptive capacity of smallholder farmers. Observed farmers’ practices include land preparation and soil quality improvement, seedling preparation, transplanting, cropping management, and harvesting. Dialogs disclosed that unmanageable constraint but urgently needed by smallholder farmers in intensifying food production was technology solution for uncertain and uncontrollable natural flooding and drought occurrence at riparian wetlands. Government intervention is expected for constructing infrastructure for water management at riparian wetlands, i.e. polder system.