SMART FARMING 4.0 UNTUK MEWUJUDKAN PERTANIAN INDONESIA MAJU, MANDIRI, DAN MODERN

Smart farming 4.0 based on artificial intelligence is a flagship launched by the Ministry of Agriculture. Smart farming 4.0 encourages the farmers to work more efficient, measurable, and integrated. Through technology, farmers are able to carry out farm practice by relying on mechanization, not on the planting season, from planting to harvesting accurately. Several smart farming technologies such as blockchain for modern off farm agriculture, agri drone sprayer, drone surveillance (drone for land mapping), soil and weather sensors, intelligent irrigation systems, Agriculture War Room (AWR), siscrop (information systems) 1.0 have been implemented in some areas. However, farmers deal with various educational backgrounds, aging farmers phenomenon, and high cost of smart farming technology tools to implement smart farming. This paper aims to analyze the huge opportunities of smart farming by utilizing the potential of millennial farmers as actors and analyzing various government policies to support smart farming 4.0. The Ministry of PDTT has carried out pilot projects to implement smart farming in several locations. The Ministry of Agriculture also needs to play a role by creating a smart farming roadmap. The Government's Strategic Project 2020–2024 through food estate based on farmer corporations may support massive smart farming applications

Agricultural sector labor migration: case study in Patanas Villages

Population migration is a common phenomenon in rural communities. It shows an effort to find opportunities to get a better job outside the village. The migration process also occurs in the village, the research site of the National Farmer Panel (Patanas). This paper aims to (1) look at the magnitude and type of migration in the Patanas village and (2) identify the push and pull factors of migration. The research method used is descriptive. The results showed that among the three types of migration, the most dominant types were commuters, followed by circular and permanent. The push factors of migration in Patanas villages are dominated by: (1) limited employment opportunities in rural areas, (2) no or narrow land tenure, (3) low agricultural wages and seasonal nature, and (4) less prestigious. While there are three main pull factors in migrant destinations: (1) it is easy to find a job or try at the destination, (2) wages in the destination area are higher than in origin, and (3) wages are earned routinely. To downsize the migration rate, the government must provide better infrastructure in the village, a prerequisite for economic development in rural areas

Analysis The Growth of Microfinance in Upland Areas

Farmers in upland areas struggle with the accessibility of financial institutions. Due to their remote location and the absence of finance branch offices; therefore, The Ministry of Agriculture and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) are working together to resolve finance access difficulties by developing Agribusiness Microfinance Institutions (MFI) in upland communities. The study aimed to assess the agricultural sector’s potential and funding restrictions and examine the growth of microfinance in the Upland area. The study was conducted in Garut, Tasikmalaya, Lebak, and Subang districts in October and November 2022. Both primary and secondary data were included in the data set. The data were then descriptively and qualitatively analyzed. The findings indicate that the research area has the potential to expand microfinance based on the existing financial institutions established by the government in various programs. The fundamental issue with MFI is a need for more liquidity, the fulfilment of legality requirements, the role of local governments to arrange, microfinance financial management system plan, implementation of banks as microfinance fund distributors, and loan interest rates paid to farmers. Efforts are needed to speed up the microfinance development process in partnership with formal financing institutions dedicated to assisting farmers and business operators in providing capital

The dynamics of rural transformation, household income, and poverty reduction: Case study in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Rural transformation (RT) is a process in which the agricultural system undergoes transformation towards off-farm, commercial, and market-oriented ones. The research objective is to analyze the dynamics of rural transformation, farmer incomes, and poverty in rural areas in North Sumatra. This study used secondary data from Statistics Indonesia and analyzed using descriptive and tabular methods. The results show that the agricultural structure has shifted over the last two decades from low-value commodities (food crops) to high-value commodities. At the same time, non-farm employment opportunities also showed an increase. The development of high-value commodities and non-farm sectors has also contributed to reducing rural poverty rates. The plantation sub-sector is the highest contributor to agricultural GDP in North Sumatra and tends to increase yearly, in addition to the livestock and horticulture. The non-agricultural industry began to increase and contributed significantly to GDP. Per capita income in 2011-2020 has increased. Poverty depth and severity are still below the national average, meaning that efforts to alleviate poverty have been relatively successful to increase incomes and reduce poverty in rural areas, one of the strategies that need to be taken is to encourage the development of high-value commodities and expand non-agricultural employment opportunities in rural areas