Judul: The Influence of Partnership on Potato Farmes’ Efficiencies and Income in Subdistrict of Pangalengan, Bandung Regency
Abstrak: Potato is one of the superior vegetable commodities in Indonesia, making it to be the third biggest producer of potato in the country after chili pepper and cabbage. The share of potato production in 2009 was 10.20 percent out of the national vegetable production. One of the potato production centers in Indonesia is West Java with the production share of 27.25 in 2009 out of the national potato production. Bandung Regency was a potato production center in West Java Province in 2009 with the production share of more than 57 percent. The average potato productivity in Bandung Regency in 2009 was 20.35 tons/ha. This productivity was still lower than that in Brazil as a developing country and with tropical climate like Indonesia. The low potato productivity in Bandung Regency was probably due to the relatively low efficiency. Improving efficiency will not only increase potato production but also can lower the production cost and increase farmer income. PT. Indofood Fritolay Makmur (PT. IFM) is a potato processing company which has conducted a partnership program with potato farmers in Pangalengan Subdistrict since 1997 by providing farmers with certified superior potato seed, giving training to all heads of farmer groups so that they are good at potato seed breeding, and buying the potato produced by the farmers who join the partnership with the price set at the time of seed delivery. The aim of this research was to determine the technical, allocative, and economic efficiency level and the factors influencing the technical, allocative, and economic inefficiency level, to analyze the effects of partnership on technical, allocative, and economic efficiency, and to describe the difference between potato farmers with a partnership system and those without it. For that purpose, this study used primary data of 80 potato farmers using Stochastic Frontier Analysis, SFA). The research result showed that the average technical, allocative, and economic efficiency of farmers was 0.71, 0.51 and 0.36. This means that potato farmers have technically been efficient, but they have not been allocatively and economically efficient. It is also showed that partnership reduced farmers’ allocative inefficiency. Otherwise, it increased the technical and economic inefficiencies. Another dummy variable of potato cultivation training and duration as a member of farmers club lowered allocative and economic inefficiencies statistically. This showed that the three determining factors should be given a special attention to increase farmers’ income. The results implied that the average technical and economic efficiencies and income of potato farmers who had partnership with PT. IFM were lower statistically than those who had no partnership but the average allocative efficiency of potato farmers who had partnership with PT. IFM was higher statistically than those who had no partnership.
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Judul: Technical efficiency analysis and farmer risk behavior as well as its effects on the superior variety application in potato farming in Enrekang Regency, South Sulawesi Province
Abstrak: The main problem in potato commodity development in Enrekang Regency is the productivity which tends to decrease. This study aimed to: (1) estimate the level of technical efficiency and the factors that influenced it on potato farming, (2) learn about the behavior of farmers in the face of productivity risk in farming potato, (3) estimate the factors that influenced farmers' opportunities in applying superior varieties in potato farming. This study used 77 samples of farmer respondents who grew potato of granola variety and 30 farmer respondents who grew potato of kalosi variety in Enrekang Regency. A function model of frontier productivity, productivity risk function and technical inefficiency function which was developed by Kumbhakar was adopted to analyze the technical efficiency and farmer behavioral risks and logit model to analyze the factors that affected farmers' opportunities to apply technology and was estimated by Maximum Likelihood Estimation. The research result showed that: (1) the behavior of farmers who grew potato of granola variety and those who grew potato of Kalosi variety was risk averse, (2) the average level of technical efficiency accomplishment of potato farming using granola variety and Kalosi variety was classified as high, (3) socio-economic factors that had an effect on lowering technical inefficiency in potato farming with granola variety were potato farming experience, household size and the land distance from the farmer's house, while in potato farming using kalosi variety were potato farming experience and the land distance from the farmer's house, and (4) the productive age and availability of labor in the family affected the farmer’s chances of applying superior varieties in potato farming.
Keyword: technical efficiency, superior varieties, risk behavior, technological application, potato

Judul: Konstruksi sangkar cuaca mini untuk sensor suhu elektronik
Abstrak: Pengukuran suhu udara sering dipakai sebagai dasar pengukuran unsur-unsur cuaca. Dalam pengukuran sufiu udara, ada beberapa ha1 yang perlu dihiidari yaitu pengaruh radiasi surya secara langsung maupun pantufannya oleh benda-benda yang ada di sekelilingnya, gangguan dari tetesan air hujan, tiupan angin yang terlalu kencang, dan pengaruh radiasi bumi akibat pemanasan dan pendinginan permukaan tanah setempat, karena ha1 tersebut mempengaruhi akurasi pengukwan. Untuk mengatasi rnasalah tersebut maka sensor suhu harus diletakkan di dalam suatu pelindung yang disebut sangkar cuaca.
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