Does mechanization have an impact on increasing productivity and income of narrow land corn farmers in Indonesia?

Abstract

Smallholder farmers dominate the agricultural system in Indonesia, including farmers of corn. The high demand for corn for the food and feed industry and the low domestic production have prompted the government to import. The increase in corn production is carried out by using mechanization in its cultivation activities. This study aimed to see the effect of mechanization on increasing the productivity and income of corn farmers on a small land. The definition of narrow land used in this study is a farmer who has a land area of less than 5000 m2. The data used is derived from a household survey of palawija crop farmers in 2014. The findings show that the mechanization adopted by corn farmers on small land has a positive effect. Small land farmers who use mechanization show that their average productivity and income are higher than small land farmers who do not use mechanization in their farming activities.