Sistem Alley Cropping: Analisis SWOT dan Strategi Implementasinya di Lahan Kering DAS Hulu

Abstrak. Ditinjau dari segi luasan, lahan kering di Indonesia merupakan lahan yang cukup potensial, untuk dikembangkan sebagai areal pertanian. Namun usaha pertanian di areal ini dihadapkan pada beberapa kendala, diantaranya karena lahan ini banyak tersebar di daerah pegunungan dengan topografi yang curam sehingga rawan erosi. Untuk itu usahatani konservasi mutlak perlu dilakukan. Teknik konservasi mekanik berupa teras bangku, yang telah banyak dikenal dan diadopsi petani, diyakini dapat menurunkan erosi, namun teknik ini tidak selalu cocok diimplementasikan pada semua kondisi, selain memerlukan biaya yang cukup tinggi. Oleh karena itu, teknik konservasi vegetatif lebih disarankan untuk diapliksikan di areal ini. Sistem pertanaman lorong (alley cropping) merupakan teknik konservasi vegetatif yang telah terbukti efektif mengendalikan erosi dan aliran permukaan (runoff), kehilangan hara, meningkatkan produktivitas tanah dan tanaman, efisien dari segi biaya, serta dapat diadopsi oleh petani berdasarkan hasil-hasil penelitian. Dengan demikian, sistem pertanaman lorong berpeluang untuk dikembangkan di areal lahan kering dengan memperhatikan keunggulan dan kelemahannya. Makalah ini mengemukakan tentang keunggulan dan kelemahan sistem pertanaman lorong serta peluang dan tantangan yang akan dihadapi di dalam implementasinya di lahan kering berdasarkan hasil analisis SWOT (strengths, weeknesses, opportunities, threats). Pengembangan strategi untuk implementasi sistem alley cropping meliputi strategi yang bersifat teknis dan non teknis.Abstract. In terms of area, upland in Indonesia is a potential land to be developed as an agricultural area. However, this agricultural bussines on this area is faced with several problem, some of them is because the agricultural land is spread in mountainouns area with a steep topography that is easy to erosion, therefore conservation agriculture system is absolutely needed. Mechanical soil conservation techniques such as bench terrace which have been widely known and farmer-friendly are believed to reduce erosion, but this technique is not always suitable to be implemented in all condition other than requiring high cost, therefore vegetative conservation vegetative conservation techniques are more suggested to control erosion in this area. Alley cropping system is a vegetative conservation technique that has been proven effective in controlling erosion and runoff, nutrient loss, increasing land and crop productivity, cost efficient and can be adopted by farmers based on the research results. Thus, the alley cropping system is likely to be developed in upland area with attention to its advantages and disadvantages. This paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of alley cropping system and the opportunities and challenges that will be faced in its implementation in upland based on SWOT (strengths, weeknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. Development of strategy for implementation of alley cropping system includes technical and non technical strategy.