“Persepsi Petani terhadap Kompetensi Penyuluh Pertanian Lapangan di Kecamatan Pontang, Kabupaten Serang, Provinsi Banten”.

Abstract

Serang District has approximately 60 % of the population as small-holder farmers. This condition has a great potential for agricultural development. Up to now, farmers in some areas find limited access to extension services. This is due to lack number of extension workers and quality of agricultural extension workers that are needed by the farmers. The Act No. 16/2006 about System of Extension in Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry states that the competency of extension workers is important The objectives of the research were: (i) to describe the farmer’s perception on the extension worker competence, and (ii) to describe the relationship between the personal and farming characteristics and quality of extension activities with their perception about the competence of extension worker. This research was conducted with the survey methods and observations in the two Pontang subdistrict, including Pulokencana dan Sukanegara. The 60 farmer samples were randomly selected as respondents. The data were analyzed through Spearman rank correlation test. . The result showed a correlation between participation in training were significantly correlated with the perception of the competence of extension worker. There was also a significant correlation between the perception of extension activity quality (intensity, materials, and methods) with the farmer’s perceptions of the competence of extension worker

Salah satu kabupaten di Provinsi Banten yang usaha sektor pertaniannya berpeluang dan potensial untuk dikembangkan adalah Kabupaten Serang. Kabupaten Serang dengan sekitar 60 persen penduduknya bermata pencaharian di bidang pertanian mempunyai potensi besar untuk pengembangan pertanian. Sayangnya, jumlah penyuluh pertanian (PPL) masih jauh dari ideal. Jumlah desa di Kabupaten ini ada 314 desa, jumlah PPL PNS ada 68 orang dan penyuluh Tenaga Harian Lepas (THL) sebanyak 103 orang, sehingga totalnya berjumlah 171 orang. Berdasarkan Undang-undang (UU) Nomor 16 Tahun 2006 tentang Sistem Penyuluhan Pertanian, Perikanan dan Kehutanan (SP3K), setiap desa harus mempunyai penyuluh pertanian paling tidak satu orang penyuluh. Peningkatan kompetensi penyuluh saat ini juga dirasakan belum efektif berjalan. Kegiatan penyuluhan lebih banyak pada proses pelayanan, bukan mendidik petani agar mampu mengambil keputusan sendiri. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk: (1) mendeskripsikan karakteristik pribadi dan karakteristik usahatani petani, (2) menganalisis persepsi petani tentang kualitas penyuluhan pertanian, (3) menganalisis persepsi petani tentang kompetensi PPL, dan (4) menganalisis hubungan antara karakteristik pribadi dan usahatani petani serta kualitas penyuluhan dengan persepsi petani tentang kompetensi PPL.