Potensi Pengembangan Teknologi Budidaya Padi Apung untuk Mengatasi Risiko Banjir

Abstract

Rice is one of the main food in Indonesia. Demand for rice increases as the population increases. The national rice production has not been able to meet the needs of national consumption. In the last number of years, Indonesia has to import rice to meet the demand. On the other hand, the risks and impacts of climate anomalies, such as floods and droughts, become more frequent and more intense. The climate hazards have been found to be main threat to agricultural production systems and national food security. In some specific area such as in coastal areas, the occurrence of environmental damage coupled with the problem of rising sea, flood has already become an annual disaster. The floods last for a few months during the rainy season and this does not allow farmer to plant the rice in this season. This research examines the potential of rice floating technology to address the problem of the annual floods which occurred in Pamotan Village, Ciamis District, West Java and Rawaapu Village, Cilacap District, Central Java. Floating rice technology addresses the flood risk using raft as cropping medium. The results of the analysis indicated that the floating rice technology is very potential to be applied in areas that have already been experiencing annual flooding problem. The economic feasibility of this technology is also very high. The total revenue earned by floating rice farming is greater than the total income of the conventional rice farming in Pamotan and Rawaapu. This is demonstrated by the higher ratio of revenue and cost (R/C) of floating rice farming than that of the conventional technique. The R/C of the floating rice reached 2,03 while that of the conventional rice was only 1,71. This suggests that the floating rice cultivation is not only very potential to address the problem of permanent flood but also for increasing farmers income.