Farmers^ decision-making process in deciding to cultivate corn and factors affecting it in Percut Sei Tuan Subdistrict, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra Province
Azzahra, T C Pane and T Supriana

Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia.

Abstract

Corn is one of the most crucial staple foods in Indonesia after rice. The decision of farmers to plant corn is driven by many driving factors, including the age of the farmer which can influence the behaviour of farmers when deciding to cultivate corn. Deli Serdang Regency is one of the corn-producing centres in North Sumatera. Meanwhile, Percut Sei Tuan Subdistrict had the highest planting area, harvest area, and production in Deli Serdang Regency. This research was conducted to find out what factors influence the decision of farmers in deciding to cultivate corn, and how the process of taking it occurs. Binary Logistics regression analysis was used to analyse primary data obtained from interviews. The results showed that the farmers^ age, experience in farming corn, number of dependents, and frequency of attending extensions, had an insignificant effect on farmers^ decisions to plant corn, while the ease of farming had a positive and significant effect. Many farmers in the research area did corn farming because they think that growing corn is easier than other crops. The farmers made the decision to cultivate corn instead of other crops through three stages, namely the knowledge stage, the persuasion stage, and the decision stage.

Keywords: decision making process

Topic: Food agribusiness and rural development