EMPOWERMENT OF FARMERS' GROUPS THROUGH THE JAJAR LEGOWO PLANTING SYSTEM IN RICE FARMING AT DESA SIRU, KECAMATAN LEMBOR, KABUPATEN MANGGARAI BARAT

Abstract

This research was carried out in Siru Village, Lembor District, West Manggarai Regency, which is one of the areas with the agricultural sector as the main livelihood of the community, especially in paddy rice farming. This village has considerable potential for agricultural development, but still faces various obstacles such as the low level of education of farmers, limited mastery of technology, and the still dominant use of traditional planting systems. Therefore, efforts to empower farmers through the application of technological innovations, one of which is the legowo row planting system, are needed to increase productivity and efficiency of farming. This study aims to: (1) find out the profile of paddy rice farming with a legowo row planting system, and (2) analyze the success rate of empowerment of the Want Jaya B farmer group through the implementation of the legowo row planting system which is reviewed from the aspects of human development, business development, environmental development, and institutional development in Siru Village, Lembor District, West Manggarai Regency. The results of the study show that paddy rice farming has implemented the legowo row planting system quite well, with an average production of ±4,855 tons/ha and a harvest period of twice a year. The overall success rate of farmer empowerment reached 90.23% which was included in the category of very much in line with expectations. In detail, the business development aspect has the highest value of 92.10%, which shows that farmers have been able to manage farming effectively. The environmental development aspect obtained a score of 94.35%, which means that farmers have applied environmental management principles very well. In the aspect of institutional development, farmer groups are in the advanced class with an average score of 3.93 or 91.36%, which shows that the group's institutions have run well.