Factors Contributing to the Performance of Agricultural Credit in Lombok Indonesia

In Indonesia, national historical records show increasing agricultural credit provision by government, yet farmers seem to be unable to escape poverty. In addition, the repayment of credit has tended to be lower as years proceed. This paper analyses the performance of credit in terms of agricultural production, farmers' earnings, and credit repayment, and factors contributing to the performance. The analysis is based upon a survey conducted in Central Lombok, where the current KKP government credit scheme is provided to agricultural producers. Three villages within the regency were sampled, representing various repayment rates of government credit. Data were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 65 farmers who had made use of government or other sources of agricultural credit. Studies of individual farmers making use of credit in the surveyed area indicated that credit had a small impact on agricultural production and farmers' income. About half of the farmers reported that credit did not help. The other half of farmers experienced a positive impact of credit through intensification and timely husbandry application. There was a varying repayment rate by individual credit users, which reflected farmers' capability, character, and motivations.agricultural credit, credit performance, Lombok, Indonesia, Agricultural Finance,

Decision Support Systems in Australian Agriculture: State of the Art and Future Development

This paper reports and discusses the results of a survey conducted with experts working in the field of decision support systems (DSS) in Australian agriculture. It also reviews the literature on DSS in the light of these experts' responses. The findings from this survey have consolidated our understanding of the current state of DSS in Australian agriculture. The uptake of DSS by farmers has been slow and various issues said to be contributing to this include fear of using computers, time constraints, poor marketing, complexity, lack of local relevance, lack of end-user involvement, and mismatched objectives between developers and users. The future prospect for the development of DSS was generally regarded to be poor. Never-the-less, the authors believe that new DSS which embrace the suggested criteria could be widely accepted by farmers. These criteria mean that to be widely used by farmers, any successful DSS needs to address widespread problems: they need to be location specific, and gain strong support from initial users. They also need to be simple to use, relevant, effective, low cost, and user friendly and it is most likely that farmers would have been involved in their development. We believe that farmers' personalities, and their attitudes towards risk management and decision making, will influence the pattern of adoption of DSS in Australian agriculture while the intergenerational change that is occurring in the management of Australian farms is a positive factor that may encourage more widespread use of these tools.DSS, farmers' decision-making, expert opinion, management decisions, Farm Management, D7, D8, Q12, Q13, Q16,

Risk Management Strategies by Australian Farmers

Australian farmers operate in one of the most risky environment in the world. They have to cope with various sources of risk in their businesses. This paper reports results of two case studies undertaken to examine the issues of farming risks and risk management strategies in Australia. The first case study found that climate variability, financial risk, marketing risk, and personal risk were regarded as the major sources of farming risk in the Upper Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. The main management strategies used by farmers included diversifying varieties, minimising tillage, minimising area of risky crops and maximising area of the least-risky crop, having high equity, having farm management deposits and other off-farm investments, and "leaving marketing to experts". The second case study revealed that climate variability was ranked as the most important source of farming risk in southwest Queensland. This was then followed by financial risks, government policy, and marketing risks. The main management strategies used were enterprise diversification (having predominantly cattle and farming cash crops), conserving moisture, using zero till planting, diversified sales (selling only part of the farm's production at any one time), and having off-farm investments. The paper then attempts to reconcile the two case studies by comparing the results with studies from the United States of America, Canada, Netherlands, and New Zealand.risk, risk management, strategies, farmers, Australia, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty,

Assisting Vietnamese Mango Farmers to Capture Greater Benefi ts through Improved Supply Chain Management

In the developing countries, traditional supply chains for fresh produce are giving way to new supermarket-led supply chains. The rapid transformation in the fruit and vegetable sector is due to the meteoric rise of supermarkets, hypermarkets, superstores, neighbourhood stores, convenience stores, and discount stores, which are impacting on smallholder farmers. This change is also impacting on both upstream and downstream market intermediaries through the demand for safe, high-quality produce that has been produced in a sustainable manner. Problems with procurement in traditional supply chains include few product standards, inconsistent supply, highly variable transaction costs, and limited market information. Supermarkets are now setting new procurement practices and supply systems which focus on reducing costs and improving quality to enable them to sell at lower prices. This will allow them to win over consumers and to obtain a larger market share. However, the ability of smallholder farmers, collector agents, and wholesalers in the Mekong Delta to meet safe food levels and the quality demands of domestic and overseas supermarkets can only be obtained through improving their production and supply chain practices. The implementation of new production and postharvest practices and the modernization of these supply chains may preclude many smallholder farmers from participating. Smallholder farmers must develop risk minimization strategies, such as forming collaborative marketing groups, implementing new crop management and production systems, improving the packaging, and creating more efficient transport methods and handling practices to provide a safe, competitively priced, high-quality product. Understanding the supply chain and where to intervene are essential if farmers and all supply chain participants are to benefit. In this paper, we describe mango supply chains in the Mekong Delta, provide empirical data collected from surveys, and highlight improvements smallholder farmers have been making to achieve greater benefits

Improving Living Standards of Small Producers in Lombok Indonesia: Entrepreneurship Can Be the Key

There were indications of failure of Indonesia's agricultural credit program in terms of its inability to increase agricultural production, farmers' income, and repayment level. This paper analyses the impact of credit provision on farming activities and proposes strategies for improving livelihood of agricultural producers in Lombok, Indonesia. The analysis is based on two periods of survey conducted in Central Lombok, where the current KKP government credit scheme is provided to agricultural producers. Three villages within the regency were sampled, representing various repayment rates of government credit. Data were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with farmers who had made use of government or other sources of agricultural credit, and with key informants. This study confirmed that credit used by farmers in Lombok had little noticeable impact on increasing agricultural production (11%) and on income (5%). This marginal impact of credit use may be related to the current credit provision system in which credit is made available in limited amounts and intended for a single purpose. The repayment levels of individual farmers were quite satisfactory, in the sense that the majority of farmers have repaid their loans in full. However, their reasons for repayment were not directly related to the levels of income they earned. Rather, farmers made credit repayments for reasons for maintaining eligibility for future credit distribution, borrowers' positive personality (especially to avoid embarrassment), and providers' collection efforts. The little noticeable impact of credit, and farmers' reasons for making credit repayment, point to the need for the current system to be altered, to allow for provision of larger amounts and for multiple purposes. This move requires equipping farmers with entrepreneurship ability so that they can seek and make use of business opportunities. There is a need for education and extension programs that focus on identifying business opportunities on which credit may be used more profitably in the long term rather than just for short term seasonal survival as well as on how to run the identified businesses properly and profitably. This knowledge may help farmers to improve their living standards and allow credit provision to have a more significant impact than the current system

Acceptance and Repayment of Agricultural Credit in Lombok Indonesia - Farmer's Perspectives

This paper analyzes farmer decisions regarding acceptance and repayment of agricultural credit in Lombok, Indonesia. A survey was conducted during July 2001- March 2002 in Central Lombok, where the current KKP government credit scheme is provided to agricultural producers. Three villages within the regency were sampled, representing various repayment rates of government credit. Data were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 65 farmers who had made use of government or other sources of agricultural credit. Capital possession was found to be the starting point for farmers' decision-making in relation to credit use. As long as farmers had their own capital, they tended to avoid using credit, perceiving that credit from any source was risky. Farmers preferred to apply for government credit, rather than from private sources, because it had lower interest rates, a more suitable repayment schedule, and was considered less risky. In some situations however, private credit was preferred because of its simplicity and instant availability. In credit repayment, farmers' behavior was strongly influenced by their capability, character, and motivations, and these factors could be inter-connected. The findings have some implications for credit distribution, monitoring, repayment collection, and education and extension for clients.agricultural credit, acceptance, repayment, Lombok, Indonesia, Agricultural Finance,

Factors Contributing to the Performance of Agricultural Credit in Lombok Indonesia

In Indonesia, national historical records show increasing agricultural credit provision by government, yet farmers seem to be unable to escape poverty. In addition, the repayment of credit has tended to be lower as years proceed. This paper analyses the performance of credit in terms of agricultural production, farmers' earnings, and credit repayment, and factors contributing to the performance. The analysis is based upon a survey conducted in Central Lombok, where the current KKP government credit scheme is provided to agricultural producers. Three villages within the regency were sampled, representing various repayment rates of government credit. Data were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 65 farmers who had made use of government or other sources of agricultural credit. Studies of individual farmers making use of credit in the surveyed area indicated that credit had a small impact on agricultural production and farmers' income. About half of the farmers reported that credit did not help. The other half of farmers experienced a positive impact of credit through intensification and timely husbandry application. There was a varying repayment rate by individual credit users, which reflected farmers' capability, character, and motivations

Acceptance and Repayment of Agricultural Credit in Lombok Indonesia - Farmer's Perspectives

This paper analyzes farmer decisions regarding acceptance and repayment of agricultural credit in Lombok, Indonesia. A survey was conducted during July 2001- March 2002 in Central Lombok, where the current KKP government credit scheme is provided to agricultural producers. Three villages within the regency were sampled, representing various repayment rates of government credit. Data were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 65 farmers who had made use of government or other sources of agricultural credit. Capital possession was found to be the starting point for farmers' decision-making in relation to credit use. As long as farmers had their own capital, they tended to avoid using credit, perceiving that credit from any source was risky. Farmers preferred to apply for government credit, rather than from private sources, because it had lower interest rates, a more suitable repayment schedule, and was considered less risky. In some situations however, private credit was preferred because of its simplicity and instant availability. In credit repayment, farmers' behavior was strongly influenced by their capability, character, and motivations, and these factors could be inter-connected. The findings have some implications for credit distribution, monitoring, repayment collection, and education and extension for clients

Decision support systems in Australian agriculture: state of the art and future development

This paper reports and discusses the results of a survey conducted among experts working in the field of decision support systems (DSS) in Australian agriculture. It also reviews the literature on DSS in the light of these experts’ responses. The findings from this survey have consolidated our understanding of the current state of DSS in Australian agriculture. The uptake of DSS by farmers has been slow and various issues said to be contributing to this include fear of using computers, time constraints, poor marketing, complexity, lack of local relevance, lack of end-user involvement, and mismatched objectives between developers and users. The future prospects for the development of DSS were generally regarded as poor. Nevertheless, the authors believe that new DSS which embrace suggested criteria for developing them could be widely accepted by farmers. These criteria mean that to be widely used by farmers, any successful DSS needs to address widespread problems: they need to be location specific, and gain strong support from initial users. They also need to be simple to use, relevant, effective, low cost, and user-friendly, and it is most likely that farmers would have been involved in their development. We believe that farmers’ personalities, and their attitudes towards risk management and decision making, will influence the pattern of adoption of DSS in Australian agriculture while the intergenerational change that is occurring in the management of Australian farms is a positive factor that may encourage more widespread use of these tools

Decision Support Systems in Australian Agriculture: State of the Art and Future Development

This paper reports and discusses the results of a survey conducted with experts working in the field of decision support systems (DSS) in Australian agriculture. It also reviews the literature on DSS in the light of these experts' responses. The findings from this survey have consolidated our understanding of the current state of DSS in Australian agriculture. The uptake of DSS by farmers has been slow and various issues said to be contributing to this include fear of using computers, time constraints, poor marketing, complexity, lack of local relevance, lack of end-user involvement, and mismatched objectives between developers and users. The future prospect for the development of DSS was generally regarded to be poor. Never-the-less, the authors believe that new DSS which embrace the suggested criteria could be widely accepted by farmers. These criteria mean that to be widely used by farmers, any successful DSS needs to address widespread problems: they need to be location specific, and gain strong support from initial users. They also need to be simple to use, relevant, effective, low cost, and user friendly and it is most likely that farmers would have been involved in their development. We believe that farmers' personalities, and their attitudes towards risk management and decision making, will influence the pattern of adoption of DSS in Australian agriculture while the intergenerational change that is occurring in the management of Australian farms is a positive factor that may encourage more widespread use of these tools