THE ATTITUDE OF FARMERS TOWARDS THE ADOPTION OF NEW SUPERIOR RICE SEED VARIETIES IN COASTAL AREAS OF WEST KALIMANTAN

Abstract

New superior varieties (NSVs) of rice seed was created to increase rice production. The availability of high-quality rice seeds for farmers is a requirement to improve sustainable rice productivity. Various varieties of rice seed with distinctive characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages have been developed. The government introduced the NSVs to farmers as a form of innovation. However, the farmers have not been fully willing to use the seeds. This research aimed to investigate the attitude of farmers towards the adoption of the NSVs. The research was conducted in Sambas and Kubu Raya Regency. The Farmers' attitudes in adopting superior seeds were measured from 5 aspects of innovation adoption, namely relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. The total sample was 150 farmers. The collected data of farmer’s attitude were processed by tabulating the frequency distribution and calculating the mean. The mean value was compared to the scale range based on the Scale Range Formula. The results showed that regarding the aspect of relative advantage and complexity, the farmers were hesitant to use NSVs, but considering the aspect of compatibility, trialability and observability the farmers agreed to use it. In general, this research shows that the farmers agree to adopt the NSVs as seen from the mean value of 366.7, within the score range of 352-452 because the seeds can accelerate the harvest period, the rice yield is easier to sell, the rice price is higher and stable, the rice taste fulfills people’s taste, and the seeds are triable for narrow fields.