Kajian Keberlanjutan Agribisnis Hortikultura di Kabupaten Sumba Barat

West Sumba is one of the regencies in Sumba island province of East Nusa Tenggara. Horticulture is a popular agricultural product there. The market potential for horticultural commodities in West Sumba is quite large but its production is still low. For this reason, the research was conducted with the aim of (1) knowing the sustainability status of horticultural agribusiness in West Sumba and (2) knowing the dominant attributes affecting the sustainability status of horticultural agribusiness development in the region. This is interesting to be examined since the sustainability is related to the ability of an area to increase production in the agricultural sector including the horticulture sub-sector. This study used the Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) analysis method, which is modification of the Rapid Appraisal of the Status of Farming (RAP-farm) method. MDS analysis results show that (1) West Sumba Regency is in a fairly sustainable status for social and institutional dimensions while for the dimensions of ecology, economics and technology are in a less sustainable status and (2) the dominant attributes affecting each dimension are (a ) the ecological dimension is affected by the level of land slope and the level of erosion that occurs; (b) the economic dimension is affected by the management of horticultural products, the contribution to income per capita;  (c) the social dimension is influenced by the existence of horticultural households and of government services; (d) technological dimensions by soil and water conservation technology and the application of technology; (e) the institutional dimension is influenced by conflicts between farmer groups, the availability of marketing institutions and the number of agricultural extension instructor.