INCREASING THE COMPETENCY OF CASSAVA FARMERS AS A REVITALIZATION EFFORTS OF TAPIOCA INDUSTRIES FOR FOOD PRIVATE REALIZATION

Abstract

Agriculture as a food-producing activity must be able to adapt to existing climate change to achieve sustainable food self-sufficiency. Cassava (Manihot utilissima) as a basic ingredient in making tapioca flour needs to be increased by one of them by holding empowerment to cassava farmers. However, before conducting empowerment there is a need to assess the prospects of farmers' welfare which are seen based on income and decent living needs or Kebutuhan Hidup Layak (abbreviate: KHL) of each farmer's family. The purpose of the study: To study the improvement of farmers' welfare after empowerment, it is necessary to have an analysis of pre and post empowerment cassava farming conditions. Survey research coupled with action empowerment on the job training model uses quantitative comparative statistical methods with research locations in Pati Regency. The results of the study show that the income of most cassava farmers (more than 88.57%) has not been able to meet the KHL, even though in terms of land tenure it has exceeded the minimum land requirement, which is 0.97 hectares. After empowerment (2017/2018) on the use of UJ5 varieties of seeds applied to double row planting and single row methods, there was a 12.6% increase in productivity or 34.2%. By replacing the cassava farming technique into a system following the above pilot plot, the welfare of farmers can be improved. if the agricultural system that has been empowered to farmers is implemented, with the assumed production costs the same, farmers' income will increase 59% of initial income.