Judul: Land Optimization of Cocoa Based Farming for Agricultural Sustainable Development in Krueng Seulimum Watershed Aceh Province.
Abstrak: Changes in land use in the watershed at present tend to increase due to the construction activity and population growth rate which have the quite high and those cause negative impacts on hydrological wathershed condition. Changes in land use in the Krueng Seulimum watershed to agriculture and farming without application of agro technology have led to high attrition and low land productivity, and those are shown by the low production of cocoa in the up-stream, sedimentation and high fluctuation in the down-stream. This study aims firstly, to assess the characteristics of the land and agro-technology applied to the cocoa crop in the Krueng Seulimum watershed, secondly, to analyze the rate of erosion and surface run off on cocoa based farming land in the Krueng Seulimum watershed, thirdly, to analyze the optimal land allocation for cocoa and agro-technology based farming to reduce erosion and increase the income of farmers in the Krueng Seulimum watershed, and finally, to formulate sustainable cocoa based farming in the Krueng Seulimum watershed. This study used the survey and field measurement methods that were started with mapping land units. Map of land units was used as the basic unit in analysis of land capability class, soil suitability, erosion prediction, Etol and determination of respondent farmer sample for farming analysis. Bio-physical land data collection such as soil properties, soil characteristics , and climate were used for analysing of land capability class, land suitability evaluation, prediction of erosion and Etol. Socio-economic data collection likes characteristics of farmers, farm land, means of production, crop production, cultivation techniques, and others, were conducted through field surveys and interviews with respondent farmers for farming analysis. To determine the effect of soil and water conservation technologies for runoff and erosion, it was conducted the erosion plot experiments in the field. Analysis of erosion criteria and farming income used the optimization of sustainable cocoa-based farming with a dual purpose program. Determination analysis of sustainable cocoa-based farm with making decision tools used the criteria of land suitability, erosion rates under tolerable erosion conditions, the income should be above the needs of decent living. The results showed that the Krueng Seulimum watershed consists of 24 units of land (SL). The land is classified as class III , IV and VI with the main limiting factors as follow: the slope factor (l), erosion (e) , soil erodiblity (KE) and the rocks on the surface soil (b). Most of the cocoa farming lands belong to the quite suitable class (S2) and marginally suitable class (S3). In general, the use of land in Seulimum Krueng watershed is in accordance with the land capability and land suitability. Result of run off and erosion measurements on experimental plots showed that the type of cocoa + areca farming got the lowest runoff and erosion (AP = 16.00 mm and erosion = 400.7 kg ha-1) and straw mulching treatment 18 kg plot-1 (5 tons ha-1) in each treatment also had apparent influence to run off and erosion on the type of cocoa + areca + mulch farming (AP = 7.29 mm and erosion = 141.8 kg
Keyword: land use, cocoa, erosion, income, agro-technology