government to achieve self-sufficiency (Warr & Yusuf, 2014). Food self-sufficiency programs

often override the extension aspect with policy changes in local governments as stated in Law

Number 23 of 2014. Paddy rice productivity is seen with the approach of production targets and

land area so that aspects of the farmers themselves receive less attention (Agarwal, 2014;

Ammatillah et al., 2022).

paddy rice in the current era. The decline in paddy rice production can be caused by various factors

including changing climate (Hussain et al., 2020), water availability (Datta et al., 2017), soil

fertility (Elbasiouny & Elbehiry, 2020), varieties used (Saber et al., 2021), crop

maintenance/management systems (Pathak et al., 2021), and pests and diseases (Shan et al., 2021).

progress. People like this still hold a belief in things that smell mystical, or they do not understand

concepts at an ever-evolving level. It can also be conveyed by the community itself whose desire

is lacking to know technological developments or things that smell of technology. A developed

country have more educated people which makes counseling more important (Fabregas et al.,

2019). A development will be faster if it is supported by a meaningful extension role. It is because

the government’s ability is very limited in managing all aspects since it requires a big expenditure

budget, personnel, and supervision (Priono et al., 2019).

and quality. Indonesia faces the fact that the number of extension workers is still lacking and the

Forestry Extension System. The purpose of this counseling is stated in article three where

extension activities aim to empower farmers and improve agricultural development.

willing and able to help and organize themselves in accessing market information, technology,

capital, and other resources (Widayati et al., 2019). It is an effort to increase farm productivity,

farm business efficiency, income, and welfare of farmers, as well as increase awareness in

preserving environmental functions. In case of paddy rice commodities in Indonesia, almost all of

them experience three harvest seasons in one year (Sekaranom et al., 2021). However, there is a

difference in yield increase when taken based on the average of each farmer group in one area.

affected by agricultural soialization and it was proven correct. However, the research were

conducted in different situations and areas, and on different aspects. The researchers would like to

dig more information regarding how it affects farmers’ farming behavior in their place, Noelbaki

Village, since many locals decide to become farmers and their lives depend on it, and there has

been no research discussing it.

behavior of rice farmers in Noelbaki Village, Kupang Regency aims to analyze the farming

behavior of rice farmers and analyze the empowerment of farmers through counseling in an effort

to increase rice field productivity.

METHOD

quantitative approach was chosen because it looked at the description and explained the

relationship between variables in depth, with the unit of analysis being farmers who tried to farm

rice so that it could show a clear relationship between variables. There were three research

variables observed, namely farmer characteristics (X

activities (Y

District, Kupang Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province. The research site was chosen

purposively, taking into account that this village has a relatively larger rice farming area compared

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Empowerment Process in Extension Activities

Farmers in handling the farming business owned by the farmers, in which the experience, level of

education of farming experience, and the area of cultivation of farmers are of concern. Some of

the activities in this agricultural extension are by conducting exercises and rembug farmers.

Practice is an activity of knowledge and skills through participatory methods (Mach et al., 2020).

Rembug tani is one of the methods of empowering farmers through meetings held regularly by the

Tania Tau Gapoktan group in running a farming business facilitated by extension workers. To be

able to see the extent to which the empowerment process is carried out by analyzing some of the

mostly stated to always attend counseling activities held in villages, especially in combined farmer

groups which are usually carried out once a month. Unlike the inactive ones, most of the inactive

groups some farmers choose to join the active group thus some farmers still get new knowledge

the same as the active group.

Technology Access

so in teaching or conveying the procedures for using technology takes a long time because to make

farmers able to access requires patience and accuracy considering the limitations possessed by

these farmers. Overall, farmers are at a moderate level with a percentage of 52.63%. This means

that most of the number of farmers in farmer groups or gapoctans are able to access technology,

be it technology that supports increasing production of agricultural products or technology that is

limited to obtaining information related to rice farming. Data related to technology access can be

seen in Table 2.

were active in Gapoktan and active in each extension activity with a percentage of 24.56%. This

is because the majority of these farmers have been able to assess that the condition of their natural

resources is very supportive and human resources are able to work very well to improve the quality

and quantity of rice in Noelbaki Village. Based on Table 3, it is also known that farmers who tend

to be classified as inactive farmers are more likely to be in the moderate group with a percentage

of 63.16%. This is due to the limited knowledge of farmers in identifying and utilizing existing

resources. The reason expressed by some farmers is that cooperating with other farmers will

provide a small loss because they have to divide so that it will affect their income. This is

reinforced by a farmer's statement.

them are rainfed rice fields. When the dry season comes, irrigation in Noelbaki Village is not

sufficient for water needs for irrigation of farmers' fields.

group with a percentage of 56.14%, there were also 8.77% in the low class. Thus, it can be

interpreted that the amount of capital used by farmers tends to use joint funds. However, for some

farmers in Noelbaki Village, they still use private capital funds because it is considered that using

them together will make it difficult and supported by the funds owned by the farmers themselves.

were active in gapoktan and active in each extension activity with a percentage of 33.93%.

Meanwhile, farmers who tend to be inactive are in the moderate group with a percentage of

57.14%. This is because the majority of active farmers already have a schedule with extension

workers so that extension workers regularly pay attention to the condition and development of the

farmers' land and crops.

Innovation Adoption Decisions

fully adopt the new technology provided by extension workers. This is because farmers continue

to use the old way because it has been personally tested through previous experiences. Although

farmers have enough confidence in extension workers, there are still concerns from within farmers

about failure if they spontaneously adopt the entire technology taught. So farmers tend to adopt

and innovate some that farmers themselves find less convincing.

is in the medium category which is the highest with a percentage of 53.63%. Of the 57 farmers, 6

were identified as having slightly weak knowledge. This is because the farmer is still new to rice

farming so that the farmer does not have enough experience and knowledge.

Affection

in agricultural extension activities is in the moderate category of 57.90%. However, there were

8.77% in the low category. This is because more farmers can respond to what should be done in

their farming business because of the help of information from other farmers who are actively

participating in counseling. Therefore, the information and knowledge gained by farmers is spread

evenly. Farmers are more likely to immediately consult with extension workers and find solutions

in group discussions or discuss when there are counseling schedule activities.

Use of High-Yielding Varieties

of 5.26% were in the low group. This is because farmers tend to use high-yielding variety seeds in

accordance with the rules and follow what is the advice of the extension workers during the

counseling so that it is easy for farmers to handle the management of the land.

Fertilization

accordance with the rules and follow what is the advice of extension workers during the counseling

so that it is easy for farmers to deal with pests and plant diseases. The processing of rice plant land

is managed by providing chemical fertilizers and organic basic organic fertilizers such as manure

used for cow and chicken manure. The dose of application of chemical fertilizers and basic oganic

fertilizers is applied according to the dosage.

Harvest and Post-Harvest Management

Effect of Farmer Characteristics and Empowerment of Agricultural Extension on Farmer

Behavior