Judul: Peran kepemimpinan kelompok tani dan efektivitas pemberdayaan petani
Abstrak: Ketidakberdayaan petani timbul akibat petani kurang mampu menggunakan sarana produksi secara maksimal. Ketidakberdayaan juga timbul akibat kurang mampunya petani dalam memasarkan hasil produksi pertanian. Melalui kelompok tani, pemerintah berpotensi dapat melakukan pemberdayaan dan proses pembelajaran untuk memperbaiki kualitas hidup mereka. Di dalam proses pemberdayaan kelompok tani dibutuhkan peran pemimpin untuk mendorong terjadinya aktivitas pemberdayaan. Pemimpin mempunyai peranan yang sangat penting untuk mempengaruhi dan memotivasi petani untuk mencapai tujuan bersama dalam kelompok tani. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis hubungan antara kepemimpinan dengan proses pemberdayaan kelompok tani dan hubungan antara proses pemberdayaan dengan tingkat keberdayaan, serta hubungan faktor personal dan faktor lingkungan dengan proses pemberdayaan petani. Metode yang digunakan adalah survei yang dilengkapi dengan pendekatan kualitatif dengan wawancara mendalam terhadap informan. Hasil penelitian diolah dengan menggunakan Rank Spearman dan Chi-square. Penelitian dilakukan pada kelompok tani Bina Sejahtera di Desa Situ Udik Kecamatan Cibungbulang Kabupaten Bogor dan pada kelompok tani Hurip di Desa Cikarawang Kecamatan Dramaga Kabupaten Bogor. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan hubungan nyata positif antara kepemimpinan dengan proses pemberdayaan, sedangkan proses pemberdayaan tidak menunjukkan hubungan yang nyata dengan tingkat keberdayaan. Sebagian faktor personal menunjukkan hubungan nyata yang positif dengan tingkat partisipasi antara lain usia dan tingkat pendidikan, sedangkan faktor lingkungan tidak menunjukkan hubungan nyata dengan proses pemberdayaan., The powerlessness of farmers is caused by the farmers are not able enough to use the equipment of production optimally. The powerlessness is also caused by the unqualified farmers in marketing their agricultural production. Through the farmer groups, the government has a potential to do the learning process and the empowerment to improve their quality of life. In this empowerment process of the farmers group, it needs the role of leader to push the activity of empowerment. The leader has a very important role to influence and motivate the farmers to achieve their goal together through the farmer groups. The aims of this research are to analysis the correlation between leadership with process of farmer groups empowerment, the correlation between the empowerment process with level of empowerment, and also the correlation between personal factor and environment factor with the empowerment process. The methods which is used in this research is survey which is supported by qualitative approach with in-depth interviews to the informants. The result of this research was processed by using Rank Spearman and Chi-Square. The research was conducted to the farmer groups Bina Sejahtera in Situ Udik Village, Cibungbulang Sub-District, Bogor and to the farmer groups Hurip in Cikarawang Village, Dramaga Sub-District, Bogor District. The result of the research shows a real positive correlation between the leadership with the empowerment process, while the empowerment process doesn’t show a real positive correlation with the level of empowerment. Some personal factors show a real positive correlation with the level of empowerment.
Keyword: kepemimpinan, pemberdayaan petani, kelompok tani

Judul: Persepsi Anggota Kelompok Tani Padi terhadap Kepemimpinan Ketua Kelompok Tani di Kabupaten Kebumen, Jawa Tengah
Abstrak: In general, the behaviour of farmer group leaders strongly influences the changes in his group behaviour. If the leader is effectively influencing his members, they will behave as desired. Therefore, the leadership of farmer groups becomes a strategic issue on agricultural extension methodology through group approach. The farmer group leader could act for some leadership functions and figures to motivate and mobilize members to perform various activities to achieve the group goals. Perceptions related to the individual's opinions and judgments of a stimulus that will lead to motivation, willingness and feelings toward the stimulus. The correct perception of an object is necessary, because the perception is the basis of the formation of attitudes and behaviour. Thus, a good perception of the group members on the leadership of their group leaders is one of the main indicators of the success of a leader in bringing about the success of his farmer groups. This research aims to: (1) analyse the perception of group members on the leadership of farmer group leaders, (2) analyse the correlation between internal factors in the group members and their perceptions on the leadership of their group leader, (3) analyse the correlation between external factors in the group members and their perceptions on the leadership of their group leader, (4) analyse the success of farmer groups, and (5) analyse the correlation between perceptions of group members on the leadership of their group leader and the success of farmer groups. The design of this research is using methodology of survey to explain the correlation among the variables of this research. The population in this research are all farmers who are members of paddy farmer groups in Kebumen, Central Java Province. The respondent recruited by using stratified random sampling method based on class (typology) of abilities of farmer groups set by the Ministry of Agriculture, namely: Beginners, Intermediates 1, Intermediate 2, and Advanced (Pemula, Lanjut, Madya and Utama). The number of farmer groups (respondents) observed were 12 groups with details of three farmer groups in each typology of farmer groups, then 10 members from each group selected, so the total number of respondents was 120 farmers. The research was conducted from August to November 2012. The data analysis includes: (1) descriptive analysis: the frequency distribution and different test of non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis, and (2) inferential analysis: Rank Spearman correlation. Analysis helped by SPSS software version 20.0. The result of this research shows that the perception of members on the leadership of the farmer groups’ leader is high; the group leader has performed his function as a group leader well. The higher the grade of ability of the farmer groups, the perception of members on the leadership of their group leaders tends to become better. Internal factors of the group members that consist of age, formal education, land owned, motivation, and a cosmopolitan issue of the area have real positive correlation to the perception of members on the leadership of the farmer groups’ leaders. The external factors of the group members that consist of the availability of information, the role of agriculture extension worker,
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Judul: Characterizations of low alloy steel sae 4422  plated with chromic acid (Cro3)
Abstrak: Characterizations of low alloy steel SAE 4422 plated with chromic acid (CrOrO3) was use Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), RD),Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-Ray (EDAX), Hardness Test and Roughness Test. Microstructures analysis exhibits cracks and grain boundaries microcracks as a characteristics of chrome metal found at plating metal. Perlite and Ferrite as grains of steel found at base metal with grain boundaries around it. Phase analysis of plating metal appropriate to chrome metal with lattice constant (a) is 2.559 Å and phase analysis of base metal appropriate to iron ferrite with lattice constant (a) is 3.318 Å. Both plating and base metal have cubic system. Chemical analysis of plating metal at surface section exhibits that cracks area have highest value of carbon element compare with grains and grains boundaries area. While chemical analysis of base metal at cross section exhibits that perlite have highest value of carbon element compare with ferrite and grain boundaries. The hardness value of plating metal at surface section and cross section are 753 and 637 VHN. While, the hardness value of base metal and interface area at cross section are 205 and 373 VHN. The roughness value at measurement points of chrome surface for as received sample are 0.445 μm. Observation used Optical Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy exhibits surface irregularities combine to form surface texture of plating metal at surface section.
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