The Conversion of Agricultural Land in Urban Areas (Case Study of Pekalongan City, Central Java)

Abstract

Agricultural land in urban areas has a  strategic role as a provider of food for  city resident, as well as supporting the  environment of the urban area. The  important role of the existence of  agricultural land in urban areas over the  past few decades faces a serious threat,  namely the occurrence of agricultural  land conversion. Therefore, this  research was carried out with the aim  to analyze the trend of agricultural land  conversion in urban areas and to find  out the factors that influence the  agricultural land conversion in  Pekalongan City. The data used in this  study were secondary data sourced  from the Central Statistics Agency of  Pekalongan City. Data were analyzed  using trend model analysis and tobit  models. The results showed that the  trend of agricultural land conversion in  Pekalongan City was positive, so there  was a tendency for the agricultural land  conversion to increase from year to  year. The factors that influence the area  of agricultural land conversion in  Pekalongan City were the real price of  paddy at the farmer level and paddy  productivity. Both of these factors have  a negative sign, it shows that an  increase in real prices of paddy and  paddy productivity could reduce the  agricultural land conversion in  Pekalongan City.