Purpose: The agricultural extension system in Indonesia has experienced its ups and downs in line with the sociopolitical dynamics of the country. This study examines the impact of access to agricultural extension on the adoption of technology and farm income of smallholder farmers in Banten, Indonesia.Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a quasi-experimental research design to estimate the impact outcomes at the farm level, with methods that form part of the counterfactual framework.Findings: Estimation results show that farming experience, off-farm income, irrigation, group membership, mobile phones and livestock ownership significantly affect extension access. The results of this main study show the important role of extension access to technology adoption and agricultural income. These studies found consistently positive and statistically significant effects of access to extension services on technology adoption and farm income.Research limitations/implications: The consistent positive and significant effect of extension access implies that public investment by the government in agricultural extension can optimize the potential impact on technology adoption and agricultural income, which also affects the distribution of the welfare of rural smallholder farmers.Originality/value: Agricultural extension as a key to increasing technology adoption. However, the impact of access to agricultural extension in Indonesia has received less attention in terms of adoption and farm income.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to clarify the socioeconomic determinants of household food insecurity in Indonesia using individual household data obtained from the 2015 nationwide household socioeconomic and expenditure survey calledSurvei Sosial Ekonomi Nasional.Design/methodology/approach: A stereotype logistic regression model is applied to detect factors determining household food security.Findings: The results from the cross-analysis between calorie consumption and share of food expenditure to total household expenditure (Engel coefficient) indicate that 20.8 percent of households were in the “food insecure” category, 21.5 percent in the “lack of food” category, 26.6 percent in the “vulnerable” category and the remaining 31.2 percent in the “food secure” category.Research limitations/implications: The main limitation relates to the data set because the collection was conducted in March 2015. Furthermore, the analysis is restricted because of the limited availability of information on socioeconomic factors of respondents. Further research based on the latest data set with more detailed information on respondents is necessary to deepen the discussion.Originality/value: Researchers have not specifically discussed the factors determining household food security in Indonesia using reliable nationwide household survey data. The estimation results clearly indicate that a household fulfilling one or more of the following conditions is more likely to be in the “food insecure” category: many members, low education level of household head, divorced household head, household head is a smoker, household head engages in agriculture or construction work and residence is in rural or backward regions.

Purpose: This study identified the determinants of improved rice variety adoption and measured their impact on farm productivity and the income of smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach: We used a multistage sampling procedure and data from household surveys in four districts in the Banten region of Indonesia. An endogenous switching regression (ESR) model was used to estimate the impact of adoption, and the propensity score matching (PSM) non-parametric method tested the strength of the ESR findings. Findings: The farm productivity of adoption increased by 11.45% and the income of smallholder farmers increased by 12.10% when compared to that of traditional methods. Research limitations/implications: The positive and significant effects of improved rice variety adoption indicated that research programs that develop improved rice varieties can optimize the productivity and income of smallholder farmers. Originality/value: Adopting improved rice varieties increases the productivity and income of smallholder farmers, and the level of education, rice farming experience, access to extension workers, off-farm work, and mobile phone ownership have positive and significant effects on the adoption of improved rice varieties.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected access to adequate and nutritious food, resulting in hunger, malnutrition and increased food insecurity. The purpose of this study was to identify the households in Indonesia that were most likely to experience the pandemic's effects.Design/methodology/approach: Using raw data from nationwide Indonesian household socioeconomic and expenditure surveys (SUSENAS 2020 and SUSENAS 2021), food insecurity was measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyze the data.Findings: The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe food insecurity increased from 20.61% to 21.67% and from 1.28% to 1.37%, respectively, between 2020 (the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021 (the period during which the infection rapidly spread nationwide). The estimation results of the multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that urban households, which may have had more difficulties with income generation and access to food due to behavioral constraints, were more likely to be affected by the pandemic. Additionally, economically vulnerable poor households, households with low levels of education or unemployed heads were more likely to be affected by the pandemic.Originality/value: To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first study to access the impact of economic downturn and social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic on household food insecurity in Indonesia, using the nationwide household survey data.

EnglishCombined Harvester (CH) aid is part of the Indonesian government policy instrument for accelerating rice production and increasing farmers’ income. In addition to reducing harvesting cost and time, CH may also reduce harvest loss. This study intends to quantify rice yield loss reduction if CH is used for harvesting. The study was conducted in Banten Province in 2014 using primary data collected from 119 CH user farmers and 116 non-user farmers selected purposively. Preliminary analysis was conducted using regression which was estimated with the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. Since OLS estimated regression is prone to sample selection bias, subsequent analysis is conducted using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) estimator with a logistic regression. The PSM analysis support the regression analysis that CH reduces harvest loss. Based on the Stratification Matching, it was found that the CH reduces harvest loss by up to 200.39 kg per hectare or around 3.52% of total yield. It is recommended that the Government facilitates provision of technical assistance and training for CH operator farmers or farmers’ groups particularly the first users aid recipients. The harvest reduction advantage is an additional reason for supporting feasibility of CH scaling out policy in Indonesia.IndonesianBantuan combined harvester (CH) padi adalah salah satu instrumen kebijakan pemerintah Indonesia untuk mendorong peningkatan produksi dan pendapatan petani padi. Walau manfaat utamanya adalah untuk menghemat ongkos dan mempercepat panen, CH juga dapat mengurangi kehilangan panen. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menghitung kuantitas pengurangan kehilangan hasil usaha tani padi jika panen dilakukan dengan CH. Penelitian dilakukan menggunakan data primer dari 119 petani pengguna dan 116 petani nonpengguna CH yang dipilih sengaja di Provinsi Banten pada tahun 2014. Analisis awal dilakukan dengan regresi yang diduga dengan kwadrat terkecil biasa (OLS). Untuk mengatasi potensi bias sampel pada analisis regresi OLS, selanjutnya digunakan penduga Propensity Score Matching (PSM) dengan mempergunakan regresi logistik. Hasil analisis PSM memverifikasi efek positif penggunaan CH terhadap kehilangan hasil berdasarkan analisis regresi OLS. Berdasarkan Stratification Matching didapatkan bahwa penggunan CH dapat menekan kehilangan hasil sebesar 200,39 kg per hektare atau sekitar 3,52% dari total hasil. Disarankan agar pemerintah memfasilitasi pendampingan dan pelatihan teknis kepada petani atau kelompok tani operator, utamanya pengguna pertama penerima bantuan. Manfaat mengurangi kehilangan panen memperkuat kelayakan kebijakan perluasan penggunaan CH di Indonesia.

This paper aims to identify factors affecting farmers’ negative perception on utilizing rice transplanters and combine harvesters. To this end, data obtained from interview survey in the westernmost part of Java Island, Banten Province was analyzed, where agricultural labor wages increase at a faster pace as compared to other regions and a rapid diffusion of agricultural mechanization is anticipated. The estimation results of multiple regression models clearly show that majority of coefficients of three independent variables: farm size extension, and farming experience, are statistically significant and take negative values. Therefore, it can be concluded that the larger the farm size, the more training provided by the government extension office, and the longer farming experience, the lesser the negative perception on the use of transplanters and combine harvesters. Educational background (formal human capital formation), the number of family members (within-household labor endowment), and yield per hectare are not found to significantly affect farmers’ negative perception. Considering the above estimation results, it seems that the government agricultural extension service plays a significant role in lessening farmers’ negative perceptions on transplanters and combine harvesters and thereby facilitates agricultural mechanization to cope with the rapid rise in agricultural labor wages. Key words: Paddy farmer, perception, agricultural mechanization, Indonesia.