Abstract

This paper aims to identify factors affecting farmers’ negative perception on utilizing rice transplanters and combine harvesters. To this end, data obtained from interview survey in the westernmost part of Java Island, Banten Province was analyzed, where agricultural labor wages increase at a faster pace as compared to other regions and a rapid diffusion of agricultural mechanization is anticipated. The estimation results of multiple regression models clearly show that majority of coefficients of three independent variables: farm size extension, and farming experience, are statistically significant and take negative values. Therefore, it can be concluded that the larger the farm size, the more training provided by the government extension office, and the longer farming experience, the lesser the negative perception on the use of transplanters and combine harvesters. Educational background (formal human capital formation), the number of family members (within-household labor endowment), and yield per hectare are not found to significantly affect farmers’ negative perception. Considering the above estimation results, it seems that the government agricultural extension service plays a significant role in lessening farmers’ negative perceptions on transplanters and combine harvesters and thereby facilitates agricultural mechanization to cope with the rapid rise in agricultural labor wages.

Key words: Paddy farmer, perception, agricultural mechanization, Indonesia.