FARMERS^ PREFERENCES IN THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF USE CHEMICAL PESTICIDES IN THE ERA OF COVID 19 Lukman Effendy, Yoyon Haryanto, Rudi Hartono, Tri Mulyana
Bogor Agricultural Development Polytechnic
Abstract
The use of chemical pesticides is considered more practical by some farmers in controlling plant pests, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic. The tendency of massive used by farmers has led to the neglect of the principles of applying chemical pesticides. The purpose of this study was to described the level of tendency of farmers and the factors that influence the application of the principle of using pesticides and determine the right strategy to encourage farmers to become better at using chemical pesticides. The research method used was a quantitative survey of the farming community of the integrated pest field school program in Sumedang, with 63 respondents. Data collection was carried out by means of interviews and questionnaires. The results showed that most of the farmers who did not pay attention to the principle of using pesticides came from the old age group and low education level but had farming experience and had extensive farming land. Factors that have a significant effect on this research are the role of agricultural extension workers and the area of arable land. The more intense the agricultural extension workers provide information, the better the application of the principle of using pesticides and the wider the land owned by the farmers, the higher the tendency to ignore the application of the principle of pesticides. The chosen strategy of this research is to optimize the role of extension in the implementation of extension activities and involve farmers who have arable land area to become demonstrators.
