The Perception of Paddy Farmer Group Members on the Leadership of Farmers Group Leader in Kebumen, Central Java Province
Persepsi Anggota Kelompok Tani Padi terhadap Kepemimpinan Ketua Kelompok Tani di Kabupaten Kebumen, Jawa Tengah
Abstract
In general, the behaviour of farmer group leaders strongly influences the changes in his group behaviour. If the leader is effectively influencing his members, they will behave as desired. Therefore, the leadership of farmer groups becomes a strategic issue on agricultural extension methodology through group approach. The farmer group leader could act for some leadership functions and figures to motivate and mobilize members to perform various activities to achieve the group goals. Perceptions related to the individual's opinions and judgments of a stimulus that will lead to motivation, willingness and feelings toward the stimulus. The correct perception of an object is necessary, because the perception is the basis of the formation of attitudes and behaviour. Thus, a good perception of the group members on the leadership of their group leaders is one of the main indicators of the success of a leader in bringing about the success of his farmer groups. This research aims to: (1) analyse the perception of group members on the leadership of farmer group leaders, (2) analyse the correlation between internal factors in the group members and their perceptions on the leadership of their group leader, (3) analyse the correlation between external factors in the group members and their perceptions on the leadership of their group leader, (4) analyse the success of farmer groups, and (5) analyse the correlation between perceptions of group members on the leadership of their group leader and the success of farmer groups. The design of this research is using methodology of survey to explain the correlation among the variables of this research. The population in this research are all farmers who are members of paddy farmer groups in Kebumen, Central Java Province. The respondent recruited by using stratified random sampling method based on class (typology) of abilities of farmer groups set by the Ministry of Agriculture, namely: Beginners, Intermediates 1, Intermediate 2, and Advanced (Pemula, Lanjut, Madya and Utama). The number of farmer groups (respondents) observed were 12 groups with details of three farmer groups in each typology of farmer groups, then 10 members from each group selected, so the total number of respondents was 120 farmers. The research was conducted from August to November 2012. The data analysis includes: (1) descriptive analysis: the frequency distribution and different test of non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis, and (2) inferential analysis: Rank Spearman correlation. Analysis helped by SPSS software version 20.0. The result of this research shows that the perception of members on the leadership of the farmer groups’ leader is high; the group leader has performed his function as a group leader well. The higher the grade of ability of the farmer groups, the perception of members on the leadership of their group leaders tends to become better. Internal factors of the group members that consist of age, formal education, land owned, motivation, and a cosmopolitan issue of the area have real positive correlation to the perception of members on the leadership of the farmer groups’ leaders. The external factors of the group members that consist of the availability of information, the role of agriculture extension worker, member’s involvement in group activities, and the benefits derived from the group, has highly significant positive correlation with the perception of members on the leadership of the farmer groups’ leaders. The success rate of farmer groups in the form of the fund-raising mechanism in group members, the members’ knowledge, the productivity and group spirit, is high, while the means for the development of the group and member satisfaction is considered intermediate. The higher the grade of ability of farmer groups, the success rate of the farmer groups tends higher. A perception of members on the leadership of farmer group leader has a real positive correlation with the success of farmer groups. The better perception of members on the leadership of the farmer groups’ leaders brings the higher success of farmer groups. Some recommendations offered based on the results of the research: (1) The farmer groups’ leaders need to retain an element of discipline, communication skills, actively directing the structure and interaction of groups, relationships with his members, his efforts in achieving the group's goals, and the ability to make decisions, motivate members to do real action, and honesty in the lead group; (2) There is a need for leadership and management training for the farmer groups’ leaders in the level of Beginners (kelas Pemula) and Intermediate 1 (kelas Lanjut) to improve their function as the farmer groups’ leaders; (3) There is a need to develop the leadership of farmer groups’ leaders with considers the age, education level, motivation, and cosmopolitan issue of the group members in creating the next leaders; (4) The agriculture extension worker need to increase their active role in fostering farmer groups, especially in the level of Beginners (kelas Pemula) and Intermediate 1 (kelas Lanjut); (5) There are elements that need to be improved in order to increase the success of farmers' groups, especially the level of Beginners (kelas Pemula) and Intermediate 1 (kelas Lanjut), namely group members capacity development and member satisfaction; and (6) For further research, there is a need to determine other factors associated with the success of farmer groups, other than the leadership of the farmer groups’ leaders variable, and the variable of farmer groups dynamics can be used as an additional variable.
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