Farmers’ Response on Introduction of Soybean Cultivation Technology under Teak Shade.

The Indonesian government makes a serious effort to increase national soybean supply by stimulating the intensification and expansion of the planting area. The area of state-owned enterprise forest is one of the potential lands for planting soybean. The components of soybean cultivation under the shade of teak of Iletri include the application of bio-fertilizer, organic and compound NPK fertilizers, certified superior varieties, planting spacing arrangement, drainage channels, pests preventive control, and weeding. The study aimed to find out the response of farmers to the introduction of soybean cultivation technology. The result indicated that soybean productivity varied and was strongly influenced by water availability during the growth period. The difference in planting time caused the varies of average soybean productivity. Soybean farming was able to provide benefit to farmers however the low income received caused the low interest of farmers in applying recommendation soybean cultivation techniques. Higher soybean productivity, higher selling price, and clearer market are still highly expected by farmers to encourage their interest. Therefore, the sustainability implementation of recommendation soybean farming, proper planting time, and more intensive assistance on an ongoing basis need to be done in achieving soybean production as much as the potential yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]