PERSEPSI PETANI DALAM IMPLEMENTASI PROGRAM KARTU TANI UNTUK MENDUKUNG DISTRIBUSI PUPUK BERSUBSIDI

Abstract

The farmer card program had been launched since 2016 in the Java region, but its implementation had not shown significant progress until now. The objective of this study is to analyze the farmers’ perception of the farmer card program in supporting the distribution of subsidized fertilizers. The results of the analysis using the Weighted Average Index (WAI) showed that there were some strong and weak factors of farmer’s perceptions of this program. The farmers gave a strong factor in their perception about the certainty of obtaining subsidized fertilizers and the ease of obtaining subsidized fertilizer by using the card. However, the farmers also had a strong factor in their perception that the farmer card program wqs not well socialized and had difficulty using the card. On the other hand, the analysis also found that farmers had a weak perception of using farmer cards. This was because the use of farmer cards was not compulsory for the farmer, and there was a lack of promotion from the local kiosk in using the farmer card to obtain fertilizer from local fertilizer distributors. The main problem in implementing farmer card was the lack of awareness from the farmer to use them, difficulties in using the card, and the use of this card was not being required by the local government. To make farmer card program successful, we recommended to implement it as a national program, enhance cooperation and common views among the parties, provide the availability of a communication infrastructure network, and socialize it more comprehensive and planned.